SnowAngels
by CJ - Lady of Gryffindor
Summary: The Christmas following Fred's death George flees from his family's forced holiday cheer. In Diagon Alley, he finds himself following a mysterious woman in white...is she an angel, or just the answer to his prayers? M for possible future Mature content.
1. Angels and Poinsettias

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N This story might look a bit familiar to some of you. I originally wrote it as a one shot. I always thought it had great potential however to be turned into a continuation though. When I started my project for NaNoWriMo this year, my first three ideas fell through immediately. In the end, I decided to pick this up. The good thing about this is... I have ten chapters already written waiting to be edited and posted. I am leaving the original one shot in tact because I feel it is quite beautiful, and different enough to be left as is. The first chapter has been rewritten, the rest is all new material written during NaNoWriMo 2010.

I want to draw this out over the holidays, so, don't expect this to be updated more than once a week, maybe more closer to Christmas. I warn you now, this is sickly sweet and fluffy with very little in the way of conflict. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the first two chapters.

Happy Holidays!

-CJ

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Snow Angels

Chapter One

Angels and Poinsettias

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George Weasley looked around him at the happy faces of his family, Christmas week had come to the Burrow and as usual, Ginny had begun to make plans for the decorations. This year she had dragged Harry, Ron and Hermione in on it so it would be even grander than usual. Holly and evergreen would grace every surface, red and silver bows, she declared, would hang from every lamp. And the tree, she swore in private to Hermione, would be at least twice as big as usual.

Not that he could blame her for going overboard, it seemed they were all trying harder this year, doing all they could to make it bigger and better in a useless attempt to make up for what..._or rather who_...was missing.

This would be their first Christmas without Fred, and as hard as they all tried, it was all too obvious that they were all feeling his absence profoundly. George had heard Ginny, crying in Harry's arms two nights before. He had caught his father, looking at the plaster of paris imprint of Fred's tiny three year old hand and wiping his eyes furiously. And just an hour before, he had heard his mother, sobbing in her room while she dressed for dinner.

Fred was gone, but he was everywhere at the same time, the elephant that sat in the middle of the room that nobody dared to mention.

It had been six months since Fred's death and for the entire time George had felt empty. Fred was something like the phantom itches he felt in his missing ear, just as he reached up to scratch that which was no longer there, he would think of something then turn to say it to a person who was no longer there to hear.

As much as he loved his family, they only made it worse. He had caught them, far too many times during the past few days, watching him. Watching for signs that he was about to break down again...as he had just after Fred died. Afraid that he would once again revert to his room to go back into hiding as he had for most of the summer.

George wasn't going to do that. Yes, he had done it before, but his pain had been fresh then. He had walked like a zombie in those early days, barely able to comprehend what _he_ was feeling; much less worry about what the others might be. However, as time wore on the edge on his pain began to fade and he realized the thing that changed everything.

Fred would not want George to stop living, just because he had.

Fred would have wanted him to go on, to enjoy life, to laugh, to cheer, to live loud...just the way Fred would have had it been George who died. George knew this for a fact, because he had come close to death the night he had lost his ear and he and Fred had talked it all out.

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-Flashback-

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"Hey..." George said with a grin after Bill and Fred had settled him in his bed, Bill had gone, leaving the two alone. "You think I'll get one of those priest hats now that I'm holey?"

Fred didn't answer. He just stood there, staring at the door.

"Hey, Fred..."

Fred took a deep breath and turned around...George was horrified to see that his face was tear streaked.

"Fred...It's cool..."

Fred sniffed loudly and sat on the side of his bed. "I know."

"So what's with the drama?"

"When I first saw you, your head and face all bloody on the sofa..." He took another deep shaky breath "You weren't moving. I..I thought you were dead."

George didn't know what to say. He had never seen Fred like this, so shaken and vulnerable.

"Never felt anything so horrible before in my life." Fred wiped his face with his sleeve. "Thinking you were dead."

"I'm not dead though." George tried to grin but it froze. "I'm fine, a little worse for wear maybe..."

"Holey." Fred laughed a little "My brother Saint George."

"Kinda got a snappy ring to it eh?" Now George did smirk.

"Don't go getting big headed." Fred grinned back "You're all lopsided now."

"Least people will be able to tell us apart."

"Nah." Fred stood and crossed the room to sit on the end of George's bed "We'll always be Gred and Forge."

"Right we will." George looked closely at Fred. He had something on his mind…his eyes had taken on that rare far off look that came over him when he was deep in thought.

"It's got me thinking though, you know?" Fred looked over George's head out the window. "This thing's only getting started. One of us could..."

"Shit Fred..." George looked at his brother, horrified. "Don't talk that rubbish."

"Not rubbish, its reality." Fred looked down at George again. "Any day now Harry, Ron and Hermione are going to take off to do whatever it is Ron and Hermione have been talking about behind Mum's back. We lost Mad Eye tonight and you know were going to lose more. It could be any of us, were all in the Order. Mum, dad, Bill, Charlie, Fleur."

"Percy and Ginny are safe."

"Percy..." Fred shook his head. "Percy is probably imperiused...at least...I hope that's the reason he's stuck around since Fudge...I mean..."

"I know what you mean." George sighed, "Better he be under a spell than that he is truly screwing us for his career."

Fred nodded in agreement. "I can't help but wonder too…how safe is Ginny going to be at Hogwarts without Dumbledore there?"

George looked up in horror. It was bad enough to think that the rest of them were facing dangerous times…but to consider that Ginny might be in danger as well… "Don't say that!"

"It's true and you know it, who is there to protect her? Ron's gone; Harry's gone...Hermione..."

"There's other's left, others from the DA."

"And where was the DA last spring? Only Neville and Luna showed up when Ron sent out that alert. Most of us...the hardcore members… have left school."

George looked away, the truth of his brother's words hitting him hard. "No place is safe anymore, is it?"

"Tonight's made me realize George." Fred waited until he had George's full attention. "It could be any of us. It could be me or you."

George was quiet, he too had come to realize in the past hours how fragile it all was. Fred's words only made it even more real. He felt his fear double…and then triple. These were dangerous times…by the end of them; they could very well have lost another they loved.

"Tonight, when I thought you were dead. It was like someone shut the lights off. I wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there." Fred looked near tears. "You're my best friend George, and it would kill me to lose you. And knowing that makes me realize something else too. I know that you would feel the same if it was me."

George could only nod. He hated to imagine a time where he would have to live without his brother...but after tonight, he couldn't deny it was a possibility.

"I don't want you mourning." Fred said, "If it's me. I want you to keep on like we always have."

George felt his eyes begin to water as he pictured a Fred who was mourning his death. A Fred who never laughed again, who never cracked a joke or even smiled.

The sight was unbearable.

"I'll promise if you will." George blinked hard, his eyes stinging.

"Promise." Fred grinned and then went to crawl into his own bed. "This whole conversation is probably for nothing you know. Just to be safe."

"So we know where we stand." George agreed and snuggled down into his blankets, careful to keep the injured side of his head off the pillow. "Just in case."

"Just in case." Fred agreed and reached out for the lamp. The room went dark as Fred let out a loud laugh. "And we'll see what we can do about getting you one of those priest hats your holiness."

"I'd appreciate it." George grinned. "If you do, I'll let you kiss my ring."

"Maybe…" Fred laughed loudly again "After you kiss my ass."

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-End Flashback-

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George had forced himself out of his room after that, forced his life back into some semblance of normalcy. But now, even after all these months, it still felt empty and Christmas was only making things worse.

He looked around himself once again. His mother was in the kitchen looking through her cook books and deciding which cookies she wanted to bake. Harry and Ginny sat cuddled up in a corner, quietly making plans for a shopping trip the next day. A little ways away Ron and Hermione sat holding hands, quietly laughing over some joke Ron had just made. Percy sat on the other side of the room with his father, playing a game of Wizards Chess and talking about Percy's new job in the Family Liaison office. With his history, Percy had learned a few things about family healing.

George stood and walked to the window. Earlier in the day, he had gone with his father and brothers to gather wood to chop for the fire. They had gone deep into the woods, bringing back several large dead trees. Just as they returned home, snow had begun to fall and now it had piled up quite nicely.

Now, as he looked out he remembered snowball fights, afternoons spent tobogganing, and skating on the pond out back. Fred was a part of every memory. His face was pink with cold, his eyes lit with mischief and laughter. Once again, George was hit again with the unfairness of it all. He turned away from the window and went into the kitchen, pulled his cloak from the hook and headed for the door.

"George?" Molly called out. "Where are you going?"

"Just need some air." He stopped and kissed her cheek "I'll be back."

"All right then." She smiled and patted his cheek. "Don't be gone too long."

"I won't."

He pulled the door open and stepped out into the crisp December air. Earlier that day the yard had been a dead, ugly place. The grass brown and trampled, trees bare and the bushes sparse. Now it had all been transformed into something quite like a winter wonderland. The moon occasionally broke through the clouds, casting silvery blue light that made the snow sparkle as if were filled with diamonds. It was breathtaking and even George, lost in his sadness as he was, could not help but feel the magic of the Christmas snow.

Fat snowflakes hit his face as he stepped out from under the overhang of the roof and he lifted his face towards the sky. He smiled, remembering how he and Fred used to love to fly on their brooms in weather like this and how they pretended that the snow was stars and they were flying in outer space.

George put his arms out and turned slowly, hoping to recreate a bit of that feeling, but it did not come. He sighed sadly as he lowered his arms...his childhood was gone, he could no more go back than he could bring Fred back from the grave.

The realization hit him so hard it nearly knocked him to his knees. The ache inside of him threatened to explode...he had to get out of there. He could take no more, none of it. The family trying to pretend that nothing was different, their smiles and laughter, not even the falling snow that had been so magical only a moment before.

He had to get away or else the pain might devour him. This time...he knew he might not find his way back.

He would go to back to Diagon Alley...he had not been staying there, not for the past year. It was too hard; there were too many traces of Fred that remained there. George knew avoiding the flat made him a coward, but he had been willing to accept that. He could stay at the Leaky Cauldron, and if they were full, he kept a small cot in the back room of the shop. It had to be better there than facing his family's forced cheerfulness and holiday spirit.

"I'm sorry mum." He whispered as he took a final glance at the house and pulled out his wand. Then he turned on the spot and was gone.

* * *

George landed perfectly on target in the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. He considered for a moment going inside, but the building was darker than midnight at new moon. He walked to the door… there was a note posted.

"_Sorry folks were closed this evening._

_Having dinner with my son..._

_Merry Christmas!"_

George sighed and turned away. So Tom and his son had reconciled. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised; many reconciliations had taken place since the war...look at Percy and his family.

He turned and began down the sidewalk. He looked up and saw a lone figure under a street light a couple blocks down. It was a woman, her long blonde hair blowing behind her as she walked. She wore white boots, a white fur muffler, mittens and a long white wool cloak trimmed in fur that brushed the top of her boots as she walked.

Perhaps it was the way the light hit her...or perhaps the snow reflecting as it collected on her clothes and hair...but there was something about her, something that was...angelic.

Without realizing what he was doing, George began to follow the woman. He kept his distance, keeping two blocks between them. She had a brisk hurried step, as if she was on her way somewhere, yet she seemed to be going nowhere. Where could she possibly be going in Diagon Alley after all? It was all businesses; she had passed the small play park and the tiny settlement where the shopkeepers lived.

She turned back toward the Leaky Cauldron, walking on the opposite side of the street as before and still George followed, keeping his two block distance. Something about this woman intrigued him, though he could not put his finger on it, deep in his heart he had begun to wonder if she perhaps _was_ an angel...sent from above to ease his pain.

But that was silly. He didn't believe in angels...or at the very least, he didn't believe in angels that walked in circles about Diagon Alley. As they made the second turn that led back towards the park he began to wonder about his doubt. Hadn't his mother always told them that Christmas was a time of miracles? If God could send a Savior to earth to save his people...couldn't God send an angel to earth to save George from his pain?

George began to close the distance between himself and the woman in white. He had crossed a line between curiosity and need. Somehow, in his heart, meeting her and going on had become synonymous.

"Hey..." he called out when he reached the same block as she. "Wait."

The woman stopped but didn't turn. They had come once again to the front of the small play park and she now stood in semi darkness.

"Why are you following me?" The woman said softly, her voice afraid. "Do you plan to hurt me?"

George was brought up short. Surely, an angel wouldn't ask such things. Her voice was somehow familiar…George realized that knew this woman.

"No." He stopped a few feet behind a sudden feeling of shame and embarrassment washed over him. He had been following her, like some sort of stalker...of course she was afraid of him. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to scare you... I only thought..."

He was unable to go on, what could he possibly say? No way could he tell her what he had thought. She would think him mad.

"I don't know what I thought." His voice was low with defeat as he began to turn away from her. "I'm sorry."

"No, wait." He felt a fluffy mitten on his arm and he turned back to her slowly. "I...I didn't realize who you were. Of course you wouldn't hurt me."

George turned back to face her and his mouth opened slightly with his surprise. The woman was much shorter than he and he looked down to see Luna Lovegood…yet it was a Luna Lovegood he had never seen before. Sure, he had seen her briefly before the battle of Hogwarts…but he had not really paid her much attention. After the battle…well…

Luna had changed in the years since he had really looked at her. Her eyes were still far too big, her skin still pale, but she had grown up. Grown into someone quite beautiful. Snowflakes sparkled in her hair and eyelashes, in the fur hood that surrounded her face, and in the white poinsettia pin she wore, making her look even more angelic than she had as he had followed her.

She was stunning, breathtaking...lovely.

"Luna..." He smiled a little. "It's nice to see you again. It's been a long time."

"It has." she smiled and nodded a little. "So, tell me. Why is George Weasley following me about Diagon Alley instead of being cozy and warm at the Burrow with his family?"

"Oh...well..." He looked away from her; it was too hard, looking into her warm, caring eyes. "You know…the holidays."

Luna gave him a warm knowing smile. "It's hard for you, isn't it?" She said, putting her hand on his arm in a comforting sort of way. "Your first holiday without Fred."

George looked up at her again and nodded.

"I understand." she let her hand drop off his arm and George was strangely sorry to see it go. "This is my first holiday without my father too."

George felt a twinge of sadness for Luna. Nothing had been seen or heard of Xenophilius Lovegood since his arrest that spring.

"You've had news then?"

"No." she shook her head. "But, I know. He's gone on to be with my mum."

"It's possible he could just be missing. People who were imperiused are still turning up..."

"No." She said again with a small shake of her head. "It's nice of you to say that. But, I know he is gone. Dad and I were very connected you know. I felt it, when our connection was broken, the night Harry destroyed you-know-who. And I've had a dream too..."

"A dream?"

Luna nodded "Yes, he came to me the night after the battle, to say goodbye."

George didn't know what to think about her dream, but he knew about the connection one could feel with someone they loved deeply. He too had felt it, when the connection he and Fred shared had been severed...even though he was three floors below him. He had felt the moment Fred died and it was the most horrible feeling in the world.

"I'm sorry." George said, now putting his hand on her arm. "That you lost your father."

"It is very sad." Luna nodded. "It's been horrible, getting used to it. I am all alone now, Dad was all I had. But, I get by."

George felt choked, not just for Luna's pain, but also for his own and he realized...at last, perhaps, he had found someone who could understand.

"How." His voice was hoarse and strangled. "How do you get by? This pain...I feel...sometimes I feel like it is going to smother me. I can't breathe, I can't move...I can't even think."

A single tear trickled down his cheek and Luna reached up and wiped it away.

"I know." She sniffed as her own tears came. "But, we have to remember that we will see them again in heaven. Knowing that, it helps some. And sometimes, I think..."

She broke off, wiped her face and smiled, laughing a little.

"You think what?" George smiled too.

"It's so silly." She shook her head. "You'll laugh."

"Tell me." George reached out and brushed a piece of hair from her face. "I won't laugh."

Luna took a deep breath and let it out on a shuddering sigh.

"Sometimes, I still feel him…here with me. " She looked up at him through her eyelashes, trying to see if he was laughing at her. When she saw that he was not…she decided it was safe to go on. "Sometimes, I think maybe he is an angel sent to watch over me."

George grinned, and then, he started to laugh.

"I knew you'd laugh." Luna grinned sheepishly. "People are always thinking I'm mad, it's okay if you do too."

"No, no." George shook his head. "It's not that. It's just that..." He blushed a little and then smiled. "When I saw you tonight, all white and sparkling in the snow...I thought for a minute that God had sent an angel to me."

"You thought I was an angel?" Luna smiled up at him, snowflakes glittering like gems on her face and in her hair.

"Yeah." George's cheeks were bright red, and not from the cold. "Silly right?"

"No." Luna shook her head, then, she stepped up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. "That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

George smiled back, his face tingling madly in the spot that Luna had kissed. "So, what were you doing, out here walking circles in the snow?"

"Oh...well..." Luna stammered and looked away. "I didn't have anything else to do."

It hit George like a load of bricks. Her father was gone, she had no other family...Luna was all alone for the holiday. He realized then...he might not be able to give her a family...but there was something he could do...he could share his.

"I need to get back." He said, realizing just how true it was. His mother had to be worried by now. "My family is waiting at the Burrow." He looked at her, his eyes filled with so much warmth and caring that it made Luna's heart warm.

"Come with me." He said softly.

"Oh...no." She shook her head. "I couldn't intrude."

"Now you are being silly." He rolled his eyes. "You have been through so much with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny...and I know my parent's would love to see you. They've always thought very highly of you."

"Maybe, in the past." She looked away from her, her face a mask of shame "I'm not sure they still do."

He knew what she was thinking about...that her father had turned Harry, Ron and Hermione over to Voldemort.

"That was the past." He said earnestly "And I think...I think it's time we let go of the past and move on to the future." He reached out and held his hand out to her, his eyes begging her to accept it. Not just for her, but for him too.

"All of us."

George was not sure why, but the idea of Luna spending the holidays with him made him feel hope…hope that there might be some happiness in store for him in life after all. Luna took a deep breath and George wondered for a moment if she might yet refuse. Then she raised her arm, pulled off her mitten, smiled brightly…then put her hand in his.

"All of us."

"You know." George said with a smile as they turned back toward Diagon Alley "Maybe there is something to what you said about your father being an angel watching over you. Maybe Fred's watching over me too."

_'Maybe he led me to you.'_

"Do you believe in angels?" Luna asked. George smiled, he was fairly sure that he had met one tonight, even if she had turned out to be a human one.

"Mmm...maybe."

"Only Maybe?" Luna asked "Angel's exist...I'll prove it to you." Luna smiled and let go of his hand, then she fell backwards in the snow and began moving her arms and legs up and down, forming a perfect snow angel. George smiled as he watched her, then unable to resist the urge, he flopped down next to her, making his own.

When they finished, he pulled her to her feet and she smiled up at him. "See George…it's my dad, and Fred...they're angels."

George didn't know what to say. There was something about Luna Lovegood, something so innocent and sweet that it made his heart want to sing. Despite the pain and sadness that remained in his heart…Luna gave him hope.

He reached out and brushed away the snow that had gathered in her long blonde hair.

"Snow Angels."

"Mmhmm." She smiled and reached down to unpin the poinsettia pin from her cloak then pulled the two flowers apart. She smiled at George and offered him one. He smiled back and accepted the flower, and then Luna bent down and laid hers in the middle of her snow angel.

"Merry Christmas Daddy." She whispered, and then she kissed her fingers and laid her hand on the face of the snow angel.

George bent down, and then he too laid his flower in the middle of his angel. "Merry Christmas Fred."

Luna sniffled next to him and he turned to her, reached over and wiped a tear from her cheek, and then he took her hand in his again.

"Come on." He smiled and held tight to her hand, then turned back towards Diagon Alley. "Let's go."

"By the way..." Luna smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "Merry Christmas George."

George turned to her, kissed her cheek and smiled. "Merry Christmas Luna."

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Chapter Two Preview

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George and Luna

arrive at the Burrow and Luna is given an offer that the Weasley's

won't allow her to refuse.

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	2. The Weasley's

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the Property of JK Rowling

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A/N Enjoy Chapter Two!

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Snow Angels

Chapter Two

The Weasley's

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George hesitated nervously, his hand hovering over the doorknob. He knew he was going to have a few questions to answer, where had he been, why had he left…most of all…how had he run across Luna Lovegood?

It was not that he was ashamed to have the family know that he had spent the last hour with her; far from it. It was more that Luna had never had a problem with being blatantly, even brutally, honest. He was feeling a little sheepish now over his initial notion that Luna had been an angel circling about the deserted, snowy streets of Diagon Alley and it was exactly the sort of knowledge he knew his brothers would love to get their hands on. There were several years of back-revenge to be paid after all.

"George?" Luna looked up at him in the dim light from the kitchen window. He had hesitated a moment too long and now Luna had taken on a worried look of her own. George kicked himself; he knew Luna had her own reasons to be worried about being there, unfounded though they were.

There was no way his family would hold her responsible for what her father had done the pervious spring. Xenophilius Lovegood turning Harry, Ron and Hermione over to the death eaters was no less than what they would have done had it been Ginny imprisoned in Malfoy Manor…Harry had told them he would have expected nothing less. Yes, the Weasley's had always loved him as if he was their own. Yes, they would have given him anything.

"In matters of life and death…" He had said with a matter of fact shrug, "…blood come's before sentimentality."

"Maybe you should take me back." Luna fidgeted at his side and George felt a twinge of guilt for having been responsible for making her more nervous than she already was. "My just barging in like this…it doesn't feel right."

"I told you…" He smiled and let go of the knob to take her hand in his again. "They will be happy to see you."

"I'm not so sure. My father…"

"You have nothing to worry about." George gave her hand a tight squeeze. "I promise."

He gave her a reassuring smile before reaching for the knob again, this time he twisted it without the slightest hesitation…let the cards fall where they may.

"George!" Molly let out a loud squeal and rushed across the kitchen to embrace him. "I've been ever so worried! Where have you…"

She stopped abruptly, her soft brown eyes locked with the silvery blue of Luna's over George's shoulder.

"Well!" Molly pulled away from George, a happy expression lighting her face. "Look who we have here! Luna dear…how nice to see you!"

"Hello Mrs. Weasley." Luna's smile was guarded. Mrs. Weasley had always been warm and welcoming…it was the other Weasley's she was wary of…the ones she barely knew. A moment later Ginny came racing around the corner, her smile wide and brilliant. Harry, Hermione and Ron followed her by a step or two, looked shocked but thrilled by her sudden appearance.

"Luna…it's so wonderful to see you again." Hermione sighed when she at last had her turn to hug her. They had not seen each other since Fred's funeral. The day after Hermione had gone to Australia to bring her parent's home and ended up spending a fair share of the summer. Mr. and Mrs. Granger had become quite fond of Australia and decided not to return. The time since had been busy with selling their house and dental practice in London and reestablishing themselves in Melbourne…with a little help from the ministry of Magic.

"Oh, you too." Luna sighed and let Hermione go. Harry quickly took her place and then even Ron took a turn. When she had been thoroughly hugged, Arthur took her cloak and Ginny pulled her into the sitting room.

George stayed behind; he figured his mother was sure to have a million questions for him and it might perhaps be best to conduct the inquisition with a bit of privacy…besides, with Luna out of hearing range, he might be able to keep his silly Angel ideas out of the explanations.

His mother had other plans.

"George, there is some hot cocoa left in the kettle. Why don't you warm some for yourself and Luna, you must be frozen solid after being out in that snow."

Molly didn't give him a chance to answer; she turned away and joined the others in the sitting room where they were gently drilling Luna on how she and George had come across one another.

'_Wonderful' _George moaned softly and tapped the kettle with his wand; waiting for the backlash. His parents would wonder if he had lost his mind. There would be loud guffaws from Harry and Ron. Ginny and Hermione would giggle and then make snarky little comments. Percy, he knew, wouldn't laugh…not loud enough to be heard anyway. He would snicker, he would smirk; and then, when George had done something to annoy him and there was no one else around to hear…Percy would slip in a subtle but deadly slam. That had always been Percy's way…the deceptive little sneak.

George poured the cocoa into tall, heavy stoneware mugs…his ears still perked for the word _angel; _yet it had not come. He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped down the small step into the sitting room. It appeared Luna had used a bit of discretion after all; she had left out that part of the story.

"Thank you." Luna smiled at him warmly and took the mug of steaming cocoa; the instant heat felt wonderful on her frozen fingers and she wrapped them tightly around the mug.

"You're welcome." George smiled back. His eyes had taken on a definite twinkle; even he knew it without being able to see it. He felt a slight annoyance when he realized that both seats beside her were taken… and the ones next to those….even the space on the floor in front of the sofa was filled by Ron lounging on his side.

George did his best to not let his disappointment show and crossed the room to sit in the one empty chair…the one that was as far away from Luna as possible. He couldn't resist the slight glare he gave the four who sat around Luna on the sofa…it just wasn't fair; _he_ was the one who had invited her after all.

"Go on Luna." Ginny gave Luna a look of encouragement. "Finish telling us."

"With my father gone and our house destroyed I didn't have anywhere to go. I am only a few weeks from being seventeen; the Ministry didn't feel a need to put me with a temporary guardian for just the holidays; too much paperwork I suppose. Instead, they rented a flat for me in Diagon Alley… above the apothecary. It has been fun really, buying things to decorate it and my own furniture."

Ron and Harry looked at one another and stifled grins; if Luna's taste in furnishings was the same as her taste in everything else, her flat was sure to be quite interesting. Catching their snickers, Ginny sent them a glare that would have peeled paint from the walls.

"Well, as I said..." Luna looked up at George nervously, she was pretty sure he would want her to keep this part of the story as vague as possible. "I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk and ran into George. That's it really."

Hermione, always the clever one, looked back and forth between George and Luna. Her story seemed right as rain …on the outside….but she knew Luna was leaving something out. Hermione had known Luna Lovegood far too long to believe anything involving her could be so uncomplicated. Luna's answer was far too simple…which was odd enough…but George looked far too relieved that her answer _had_ been so uncomplicated.

"That's just wonderful." Molly's voice was pleased. She had always been very fond of Luna Lovegood and that had not diminished in the least with the knowledge of what had occurred during the war. If anything, her appreciation of the girl had increased. Molly couldn't imagine what it must have been like…imprisoned in Malfoy Manor all those months; a breath away from Voldemort himself. "How nice that you ran into one another."

Her tone promised George plenty of questions later.

"Yes, sorry as we are to hear you were all alone…" Arthur said cheerfully "it seems to have turned out quite well. We are happy to see you again Luna."

Ginny reached over and took Luna's hand giving it a tight squeeze. She felt a slight bit of annoyed anger at her best friend. It had only been two days since the two had returned from Hogwarts together on the Hogwarts Express; Luna had not bothered to mention that she would be spending the holiday all alone. It was so like Luna; not telling people everything…but then again…had she ever asked where Luna was spending the holiday? Ginny had known that Luna believed her father to be dead, she also knew that Luna had no other family…she should have known. Ginny realized that she had been remiss, but that did not mean she could not make up for it now.

"But there's no reason for you to stay alone." Ginny said stubbornly "You could come and stay with us."

"Oh, no…I couldn't…"

"That's a lovely idea!" Molly exclaimed loudly. She had always been the _'the more the merrier' _type, particularly around the holidays. She also knew full well how hard this first Christmas without Fred had been on the Weasley's…and it was only the week before. Molly Weasley was a smart woman; things were only going to get worse the closer it got to Christmas proper. The idea of Luna sitting all alone in her flat; spending her first Christmas without her father with no one to help her through it…it was unthinkable and was certainly not to be allowed.

"No, really…I couldn't intrude."

Percy had been listening quietly. He barely knew Luna Lovegood. She had been considerably behind him in school…only a second year when he had been a seventh; there had never been reason for them to interact. Of course he knew _of_ her, they were neighbors after all, but she was so much younger than him that he had never paid her the slightest bit of attention before…not even enough to notice that she was different than Ginny's other friends.

Obviously, he knew of what her father had done during the war…everyone knew that thanks to that nosy old cow Rita Skeeter. Percy did not have a doubt that the Percy of old would have hated the idea of her spending the holidays at the Burrow with his family; he would have been pompous, indignant and enraged, he would have made a big scene and demanded she leave. However, he _was not_ the Percy of old anymore. That Percy had died the summer before…the moment his brother had died.

"Why not?" Percy asked softly "You're welcome here, no one should spend Christmas alone. Particularly not someone in mourning."

He meant every word. Percy had spent three Christmas's without his family, instead he had dined at the homes of three Ministers of Magic. Stiff, formal affairs that were memorable only for the fact that, despite the honor of being at the ministers table, he had missed sitting around the table for Christmas dinner in his Weasley sweater.

"I don't have any of my things…and…"

"I can loan you something for tonight." Ginny had turned her look on Luna again. "And, we can pick up some things for you tomorrow. In fact, we…" She motioned to Harry, Ron and Hermione "… are all going in to help George in the shop, you can come along too."

Harry chuckled loudly from her other side. "If you don't mind looking ridiculous…"

He trailed off when Luna started to laugh loudly. He felt slightly foolish…this was Luna he was talking to, of course she did not mind looking ridiculous.

"Because it would be the first time I looked ridiculous?" She grinned "But…could you tell me specifically why going to work in George's shop would make me look that way?"

"He's making us wear costumes." Ron leveled George with a semi-glare. If it were not for the fact that they were being well paid, he would have told George just where he could stuff the damned costume.

Luna looked over at George, her eyes glowing. "What sort of costume?"

"There's a selection." Hermione jumped in. "Snow elves, Angels, Santa's helpers in short little skirts and Lederhosen…"

"Harry looks cute in the Lederhosen." Ginny giggled

"They're ridiculous." Hermione rolled her eyes. She was only going to help Ron out…she didn't need the money…he did.

"I've expanded the shop a bit." George spoke up in his own defense since no one else seemed to be planning on it. "I have a line of Children's merchandise, for the littler ones…toys that do cute little things. Parents bring the kids in and the kids love the costumes."

"Oh." Luna nodded "That's a wonderful idea George." She flashed her brilliant smile again and George was thankful that he was sitting…Luna's smile was bright enough to put the sun to shame.

"Now let's see…" Molly tapped her chin with a finger. "Where will we put you? Ginny and Hermione are already packed in her room. I could put you in Charlie and Bills old room tonight...but Charlie will be arriving tomorrow and I would hate to uproot you."

"Put her in my room mum." George spoke up.

The room went deadly quiet and George blushed three different shades of red ranging from pink to puce.

"That's not what I meant." George backpedaled quickly before a hundred wonderful images had a chance to jump into his mind. "I'll share with Charlie and Luna can have my room."

Luna hesitated. She had not even agreed to stay yet and already she was causing a disruption.

"Oh…please, don't go to all this trouble for me."

"I think that's the best solution George." Molly nodded, totally ignoring Luna's protests. The Weasley's fell into a discussion of other small changes that would be needed to expand the Burrow to include another person and Luna sighed, a sense of invisibility falling over her as she sat back against the sofa cushions. Hermione laughed and took her hand.

"Come on, I'll show you George's room."

"Hermione, would you mind putting fresh sheets on the bed?" Molly called after them.

"Of course not." She smiled over her shoulder and lead Luna to the linen closet in the hall where she pulled out a set of crisp white sheets and fluffy blankets. Hermione nodded to the stairs for Luna to follow

"Once they get an idea in their heads, there is no dissuading them." She smiled, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Just smile and go along with it."

Luna pasted a bemused smile on her face.

"You really are welcome you know." Hermione turned into a room on the second landing. "George wouldn't have brought you here if he had thought you wouldn't have been."

"It's very kind of them…considering."

Hermione tossed the sheets on one of the beds and looked at Luna sadly.

"You're not still feeling bad about _that_ are you?"

"Yes…and no. It's hard not to feel bad. It was such a horrible thing my father did, even if he did have a good reason for doing it. " Luna shrugged and sat down in the chair that sat at the desk under the window. The top was covered in large scratches, scorch marks and burns. In fact, when she looked around the room she noticed that a great many spots on the walls were as well. Seeing the directions her eyes had gone, Hermione laughed.

"Fred and George." She shook her head and began to strip the bed. "It is a wonder the house is still standing at all."

"I remember how funny they were ..." Luna smiled and ran her hand over the desktop. "… when we had all those Dumbledore's Army meetings. They made all those Skiving Snackboxes too that we took to get out of classes with Professor Umbridge."

"Oh yes, they were always quite creative." Hermione paused with the old sheets in her arms and sighed sadly. "Brilliant really. I never gave them enough credit."

"The shop must be doing very well, now that the war is over."

"It certainly is! Ron and I have been helping out while we wait until we can take our N.E.W.T.S. Since the war Diagon Alley has been able to go back to being itself again…no one has to be afraid anymore. It's wonderful; almost like the place I remember first seeing when I was eleven. Almost."

Hermione smiled sadly and Luna understood. There were obvious exceptions. Mr. Fortescue had never been found, and Mr. Ollivander had given up his wand shop to his son. Luna did not want to think about the way things used to be…it was too much like thinking about her father; about the fact that he was never coming back.

"Has Harry been helping in the shop too?" Hogwarts had been rife with rumors of what '_the famous Harry Potter' _was doing since the war ended, ranging from being a resident at St. Mungo's ward for the incurably insane to waiting for his appointment as Minister of Magic. Luna had known it was neither, she knew Harry better than almost all of them and though she hadn't spoken to him since a few words after the funerals that summer, she reckoned he was just taking a nice long rest from it all.

"Ginny told us there have been rumors, some pretty good ones too." Hermione laughed "She wasn't trying to keep secrets, Harry just asked her to keep mum about him. He just wants some privacy for a change, you know?"

"Of course I understand." Luna didn't blame Harry in the least. Besides, she and Ginny had totally different schedules, they didn't see each other much at school…they had hardly had time to talk when they did.

"Harry has been working with Kingsley reorganizing the department of Aurors. The entire department was corrupted, sorting out those who had been imperioused from those who were lying and really on Voldemorts side was a nightmare. In the end they had to use Veritaserum on the lot of them to get to the truth."

"That must have been wretched, sorting through all of that."

"Oh yes." Hermione nodded "Harry was miserable for weeks, not so much because of having to sort it all out, but there were still death eaters out there who had escaped. Taking time out to sort out the good from the bad gave them a head start."

"There are still death eaters out there then." Luna said plainly…it was not a question, rather a statement based on lingering fear.

"They have found a few." Hermione nodded and put the dirty sheets in the clothes hamper on the landing. "Not many survived the battle of course, but it is hard to say how many may still be out there when there is no way of knowing who they all were. All of Voldemorts inner circle is accounted for. The Malfoys are the only ones in Voldemorts inner circle who survived the battle, Mr. Malfoy was returned to Azkaban to finish off his sentence for the Ministry break in. All that leaves is his little fish…the lackeys."

"That's a relief." Luna tried to work up a smile though she was feeling anything but relieved. She had seen first hand what the lackeys were capable of. "Oh, let me help you."

She stood and grabbed a corner of the sheet that Hermione had been struggling to fasten around the corner in its elastic clamps. Molly Weasley was an old fashioned sort of woman…she did not bother with things like fitted sheets. Instead, she used flat sheets that were held in place with elastic clamps.

"Thank you." Hermione lifted the corner up high so Luna could clip the clamp in place that would secure the sheet. "Ginny told me that Fred and George tried buying Mrs. Weasley a bunch of fitted sheets last Christmas but she refused to use them." She laughed and let the mattress fall back into place, then lifted the other corner.

"That's because mum is unbearably stubborn." Ginny spoke from behind them as she entered the room, a purple nightgown in her arms. "This should fit you. I hope it is okay."

"It will be fine." Luna gave Ginny a warm smile. They were going to so much trouble for her…too much trouble really. Luna had never been the type to like being the center of lot of fuss. "You shouldn't being going to so much trouble on my account."

"Really Luna…" Ginny gave her an incredulous look. "It's just a nightgown."

"You're forgetting about the fresh sheets, George being uprooted from his room and who knows what else over the next week."

"Two weeks." Ginny corrected.

"Two…?"

"There are two weeks until we go back to school."

"Oh, no…Ginny, really… I can't put you out for so long."

"Merlin's fat arse Luna!" Ginny cried in exasperation, she sounded incredibly cross "Would you stop going on about putting us out?" Across the room where she still struggled with a corner, Hermione had begun to smirk. "You are starting to be annoying. We want to do this, so stop taking away our fun"

"Well…I…I'm sorry." Luna was chagrined with herself. She had not thought that her statements about putting them out might be annoying. "I just don't want to…"

Ginny rolled on her heels and turned towards the door. "Go to bed Luna, George needs us at the shop by eight-thirty."

"Told you." Hermione smirked at her and offered her a corner of the sheet. "Once the Weasley's get an idea in their heads…"

"Yes, I'm starting to get that." Luna had an oddly bewildered look on her face and Hermione could not stop herself from laughing. They clamped the last corner of sheet to the bed then went to work on the rest of the bedding, a second crisp white flat sheet was laid atop the first and tucked in at the foot, then a trio of fluffy blankets was covered heavy quilt.

"It gets a bit drafty under the windows." Hermione explained. "You'll be warm and toasty with all these blankets."

Luna's eyes drifted to the bed against the wall on the other side of the room; she did not have to ask to know …

… no one would ever sleep in that bed again.

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Chapter Three Preview

Luna works her first

day in the shop and the two share a romantic lunch…

until something…or rather someone…

get's in the way.

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	3. Elves, Angels and Nargles

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N: So I was looking at this and I realized that I already have 11 chapters complete, with at least five more to do...which means to get this all posted by New Years, I will have to update more than once a week. So, I will be updating twice a week...at least for now. Enjoy the new chapter and thanks for the reviews.

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Snow Angels

Chapter Three

Elves, Angels and Nargles

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When George opened his eyes the next morning he felt an instant flash of confusion. The wall that met his face wasn't familiar, the burn mark on the window shade where he had exploded one of their very first Super-Static Fizz Bombs … a pea sized ball that exploded in a fantastic display of colored sparks…was missing. It took a full moment for the haze to dissipate from his mind enough for him to remember that he wasn't in his own room. The walls in here were pristine white, unmarred by experiments and youthful naughtiness. The most dangerous thing this room had ever seen was Charlie on a caffeine buzz while he studied the complicated art of Dragon psychology the summer he was preparing for the internship that lead to his job in Romania caring for Dragons.

He smiled and rolled on his back; the memory of _why_ he wasn't in his own room washing over him in happy waves. At that very moment Luna Lovegood was sleeping in his bed, just one floor below him. George closed his eyes and the vision returned; Luna circling Diagon Alley in her white fur trimmed cloak and hood. He might have been embarrassed by the idea of admitting it to his family the night before, but he was far from embarrassed to remember how he had imagined she was an angel sent from up above.

The truth was, he hadn't completely deserted this notion. It was very possible that the meeting between he and Luna had been arranged by some heavenly being … knowing they could ease each others sadness during the holidays. Luna had certainly needed someone. Unlike him, she was all alone, not a single person to share her holidays with. The thought of her…all alone in a tiny flat above the apothecary…at Christmas; it made him terrifically sad. She needed _him_ even more than he needed _her_.

But make no mistake about it, he did need her.

Luna was the only person, including his family, who seemed to understand the true depth of his pain. Yes, they had all lost Fred, but George was the one who had been closest to him, and… he was the only one who didn't have another that he felt close enough to lean on. His mother had his father, Ginny had Harry, Ron had Hermione, Bill had Fleur. Charlie was too far away to be of much help and Percy…Well, Percy was a difficult situation. George had forgiven him for deserting the family for three years, of course he had. Percy had returned and stood with the rest of them. If he was honest with himself though, George had to admit that it was a bit of jealousy that kept him from being able to allow himself to get closer to Percy. Despite the fact that Fred and George had spent their lives side by side, it was Percy who was with Fred when he died. George knew it was irrational, not to mention unfair, still he couldn't stop himself from feeling it. It made no sense.

That was why he felt so drawn to Luna. She understood the irrational. Most people would have thought he was a nutter; following an 'angel' around Diagon Alley late at night because he thought God had sent her to ease his pain. But Luna had not only understood…she had thought it was the sweetest thing she had ever heard.

George jumped when the alarm clock next to his bed trilled loudly in his ear…a new day was about to begin. In the past few months he had come to dread the beginning of each day, wondering if the day would be okay, or if he would spend the day drenched in memories that would leave him feeling sucked hollow. This day felt different, it held the hint of promise.

He sat up, tugging the window shade as he went. Snow still fell in flakes the size of cotton balls and he leaned over to look down at the ground. At least six inches had fallen since closing the shop the afternoon before and he couldn't resist a small groan…apparently the first chore of the day would be clearing the sidewalk; he would put Harry and Ron on it.

Sometimes, he really loved being the boss.

"George." Percy knocked lightly on the door and stuck his head inside. "Mum says to get your tail in gear, breakfast is ready."

"On my way in a minute."

"Alright." Percy nodded and closed the door. Percy, George knew, had a long week ahead of him. A lot of children were now orphans thanks to Voldemort and a few had yet to be placed in permanent homes. Percy had made it his personal mission to be sure that not a child remained in custody of the Ministry over the holidays. It was a lofty goal, there were still at least twenty children waiting to be placed, but Percy was determined.

George quickly made up his bed then followed Percy out the door. He hadn't taken any clothes out of his room the night before and he hoped fervently that Luna was already dressed… thanks to his musings he was running behind.

The door was closed when he reached the landing below and he stood nervously, his hand raised to knock, when the door opened on it's own.

"Good morning." Luna, dressed in a borrowed dark blue sweater of Ginny's that darkened her eyes to deep sapphire, smiled her mega watt smile.

"Good morning." George echoed, hoping for all the world that he didn't sound lame in doing so. "I forgot to grab clothes last night."

He mentally rolled his eyes. The fact that he had forgotten to grab clothes was perfectly obvious; he was standing there looking like a perfect idiot in his red striped pajamas wasn't he?

"I see that." Luna stepped out of the way to allow him to enter the room. "I'm done, it's all yours."

It was Luna's turn for the mental eye roll. Of course it was all his, it was his bloody damned room.

"Did you sleep well…was my bed comfortable enough?" George asked awkwardly, cringing because he had essentially just asked Luna how she had liked sleeping in _his _bed.

"Oh yes, it was perfectly lovely." Luna's eyes widened slightly at her own words…she had just, albeit it innocently…admitted that she had liked sleeping in _his_ bed. She had, she had loved it very much in fact, but _he_ didn't need to know that.

Morbidly embarrassed, he ducked his head and moved into the room "I'm glad that you like my bed…" He winced…this was just getting worse and worse. "…that you were comfortable in my bed" No wonder he had never really dated…he turned into a gibbering idiot around persons of the female persuasion. "I'm glad you were comfortable I mean."

"I was, quite comfortable." Luna's nervousness was gone. She was quite charmed by George's awkwardness, it was sweet and very unlike the George Weasley she had known from afar. He had Fred had been larger than life, a couple of real life heroes. Seeing him this way made him a lot less intimidating.

George grinned sheepishly when he saw that Luna wasn't mortified by his clumsiness with words. "I'll see you downstairs."

George closed the door and Luna leaned against the wall, a huge grin on her face. She might have been a bit unwilling to intrude on their holidays…but if this morning was any indication, she was certainly going to enjoy herself while she was here.

* * *

As planned, George put Harry and Ron to work shoveling the side walk the moment they arrived at the shop that morning. The snow was deeper than it had looked from the third floor window and even using their wands, it was going to take some time. Meanwhile, Ginny, Hermione and Luna went to her flat to pack some bags.

The flat was small, only three rooms. A kitchen and sitting room combined, a single bedroom and a bathroom. Luna had made the most of it though, the walls were bright cream colored with vibrant blue furniture and multicolored pillows around the sofas and floor. Apparently, her father had left her a sizable amount of money and so she hadn't scrimped on decorating. The kitchen was beautiful, the counters and floor were covered in rose colored in Spanish tile, but the table gave them pause for sadness…Luna had only bought one lonely looking chair. It spoke louder than anything else just how alone Luna was now.

Perhaps the saddest thing of all though was that it was barely noticeable that it was Christmas time when looking around Luna's flat. Her only decoration was a branch from a Pine tree that Luna had stuck in a jar, then covered with a few small baubles.

"This is so sad." Hermione touched the bristles of the pine branch when Luna was out of hearing range. "It's just like Luna. Keeping the truth to herself like this."

"I should have known." Ginny shrugged with disgust at herself. "We all should have."

"We found out at any rate." Hermione sighed "Or George did anyway. I wonder what really happened last night."

Ginny looked up questioningly "What do you mean?"

"You know they left parts out." Hermione smirked "Didn't you notice? George has been so … so sad and out of things the past few days. When he came back with Luna last night he seemed, I don't know, different somehow."

"He _was_ different." Ginny lifted an eyebrow knowingly. No one had to tell her how miserable George had been since Fred died, but he had been different when he returned with Luna last night. He had almost looked… _happy_.

"He was happy."

"I'm ready." Luna smiled serenely from the bedroom door, a clothing bag slung over her shoulder. She looked around at the intense look on Ginny and Hermione faces and her smile slipped.

"Is something wrong?"

"No." Ginny shook her head. "Nothing at all."

* * *

"I am not wearing that short skirt again." Hermione protested. "Why can't I wear a pair of long red pants?"

"Because Santa's helpers wear short skirts." Ron protested. He himself was groaning over the pair of Lederhosen he was about to stuff himself into. He held up a pair of triangular elf ears "Besides, if I have to look stupid, so do you."

Ginny came from the dressing room in full snow elf regalia. She look adorable in the short fluffy blue sparkly dress, her face covered in silver glitter.

"Luna." She held out a hanger "I saved the least embarrassing costume for you."

"What is it?" Luna stared at the garment bag nervously. She had already seen what the others were forced to wear…her respect for George had slipped a bit when she realized that he was responsible for the fact that her friends were now wearing a horrifying array of Lederhosen (Harry in green, Ron in red), short red velvet skirts and sparkling blue chiffon.

"It's not terrible, best of the lot really." Hermione reassured her. "Promise."

A look of trepidation crossed Luna's face as the hanger passed from Ginny's hand to hers.

"You don't have to wear a costume if you don't want to." George gave her a reassuring smiled from where he stood stocking shelves. "You never actually offered to come and help out, you were pretty much pushed into it."

"Hey!" Hermione looked up indignantly "I never offered either; Ron volunteered me!"

"That's different." George said simply

"How so?"

"Luna has never annoyed me, you on the other hand annoy me on a regular basis."

Hermione's eyes narrowed while the others laughed at her outrage. It wasn't that she really minded the silly costume …much…what little of it there was. It was the principle of the thing.

"I don't mind wearing it." Luna smiled politely and pushed her way through the others to the small changing room in back. Thanks to George, she wouldn't be spending her holiday alone in her little flat…she owed him something for that. If dressing up in a silly little costume paid off even a little of that debt, it was well worth it.

"So, George…" Ginny sidled up to him, picked up a box of Wonder Witch Instant Pimple Remover and started stocking the empty shelf next to him. "Are you ever going to tell us the rest of the story?"

The others followed Ginny's lead, casually stocking the shelves around where George and Ginny stood and listening intently.

"The rest of what story?" His nonchalant manner was a bit too obvious.

"Last night, when you met up with Luna." Hermione piped up. "Sounded a bit to me like you left something out of the story you told us."

"Yeah…" Ron snickered from behind them where he and Harry had been filling a tank with red, green, silver and blue plastic Christmas tree ornaments filled with Super Glowing Wonder Goop. "Like the truth."

George turned to him with a glower. "I did tell the truth you git."

"Or…you told half of the truth." Harry grinned over his shoulder at George. George rolled his eyes and went back to his work. He should have known he would not have gotten away with keeping his secret for long. The four of them were relentless when it came to finding out things, even worse than his mum.

"Look…" He dropped his box and went back to the counter then slid up to sit on top of it. "It just got to be…a bit much last night. I needed to get away for a little while. I came back to Diagon Alley and ran across Luna. We talked and when she told me she was alone for the holidays I thought it would be nice to invite her to spend the holidays with us."

That was as much as close to the full story as George was willing to go. The rest was far too personal, besides…it was precious to him, it was not something he wanted to share with anyone but Luna.

"Well…tell me how silly I look." The curtain to the back of the shop slid open and Luna stepped out, George nearly choked on his tongue. In the most ironic of all cases of irony…Ginny had given Luna the Angel costume.

She looked beautiful, her hair was pulled back in a barrette and then left to fall down her back in ringlets and a golden halo rested on the crown of her head. She wore pale blue eye shadow, soft pink blush and her cheeks were covered in opaque glitter. The filmy white dress fell to her ankles in soft chiffon waves, the sleeves thin and see through to show off her graceful arms.

"Wow, you look nice." Harry grinned, his eyes shifted quickly from Luna to George…from the look on George's face, he wasn't the only one who thought so. Even Ron wolf whistled.

"Are you just saying that to be nice?" Luna asked nervously. "I feel a bit silly to be honest."

"You look pretty Luna, really." Hermione smiled "Don't you agree George?"

George took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After the bedroom debacle that morning he was planning on taking speaking around Luna very carefully from now on. Likely she already thought he had brain damage…he didn't want to make it worse.

"She looks lovely." His voice was much deeper than he had intended and he cringed slightly. Talking around Luna without looking like a fool was going to take some practice apparently. He shook himself and went behind the counter. "You forgot part of the costume though."

He pulled a pair of wings from a box and pulled them apart. They were white and feathery, very fluffy and warm looking.

"Can't have an angel without her wings can we?"

Luna smiled and turned, allowing George to slid the wings into place and seal them with a sticking charm. When she turned around again the look was complete…standing before him was his vision from the night before come to life. Luna … his beautiful Snow Angel.

George and Luna stood less than a foot apart, their eyes held in the others, unaware of even the passage of time…until Ron loudly cleared his throat. He looked around, shaking off the last haze of the moment…every eye was on them.

"Get busy you lot." The bridge of George's nose pinked slightly. He could count on one hand the number of times he had blushed in the past twenty years…and about half of them had been since getting out of bed four hours before.

At this rate, he would be taking his shoes off by lunch time.

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By some miracle, when the noon hour did finally roll around George still had his shoes on both feet. Of course, Luna had been working behind the back counter all morning helping Ginny wrap gifts for customers while he had been in the front of the store ringing up sales; they had barely passed a word since he had opened the doors. With only three days to go until Christmas Eve the shop was swamped with customers as was all of Diagon Alley.

They took turns taking lunch breaks. First Ron and Hermione, then Harry and Ginny, leaving Luna and George for last. He hadn't knowingly planned it that way but he certainly wasn't disappointed by it either. He ignored the smirking looks the others gave him while he waited for Luna to change out of the Angel costume. In a strange way, he couldn't blame them for being the way they were. George had never shown the slightest interest in a girl before, not even during his days at Hogwarts when girls had hovered around him and Fred like flies on honey. There was nothing weird about him, he was attracted to them physically… but he was the kind of person who needed more than physical attraction to hold his interest. George liked smart girls, girls who could talk intelligently about a wide variety of things. On the surface George had always looked like the model Gryffindor…but inside there was a part of him that wouldn't have much minded being sorted into Ravenclaw…if it wouldn't have meant being away from Fred.

George was a thinker. He liked to plan things out for the long term, to weigh the pros and cons before acting and that had been the problem with most of the girls who had been attracted to him and Fred. The truth was, it was Fred who attracted people to them. He was the more outgoing, the one who lived the loudest…not that George hadn't raised a fair share of his own noise. But when George looked around the crowd that followed them, he felt uninspired. The girls around them were beautiful and brave and of course they stimulated his senses…but George wanted more than that… he wanted a girl who could stimulate his mind too.

"George?" Her arrival had been lost on the din of the busy shop; now Luna gently touched his arm. George turned around from where he had been gazing out the window. Fat flakes had begun to fall…it looked as if Harry and Ron would be removing snow again soon.

Luna was wrapped in her white fur trimmed cloak again, her cheeks sparkling with the opaque glitter…a sight George found captivating.

"Ready?" He found himself resisting the urge to take her hand … they had already piqued the curiosity of the other four enough that morning, better not to encourage them further.

"Mmhmm." Luna nodded, a brief but adorable bob of her head, the glitter on her cheeks sparkling like star dust with the movement.

"We'll be back in an hour and a half." George pulled his cloak from the peg and slung it over his shoulders. Hermione had moved to take his place behind the register and she fixed him with a look that was half annoyed, half teasing.

"Why do you get an hour and a half for lunch?"

"Because I'm the boss Granger." He grinned smugly. "You're just my hired lackey."

Hermione raised an amused eyebrow. "So is Luna."

"She's nicer to me than you are." He shrugged, Luna was hardly a lackey … but the last thing he was going to do was admit that to Hermione. "Besides, someone has to keep me company."

"Don't forget to come back." Ginny teased; coming to the front of the store for a fresh supply of wrapping paper.

"Don't tempt me." George pulled the door open. The freshly falling snow was already starting to pile up outside. "Tell Ron and Harry they need to clear the side walk again. No need to waste time changing clothes first either." George smirked and closed the door.

"That was mean." Luna grinned up at him, her eyes dancing madly. George looked down at her with a smug smirk.

"They had it coming after the inquisition this morning."

"They are very…" Luna paused for a moment, searching for the right words to describe her friends interest in what happened between her and George the night before.

"Nosy?"

"…inquisitive…." Luna corrected with her own little smirk "…about your private matters."

George felt relieved. More and more he was seeing first hand just how different from other girls Luna was. A vast majority of girls would have rushed to tell their friends about what had happened between the two of them the night before. A part of him wouldn't have blamed her in the least. It was kind of romantic … from most girls point of view anyway. Somehow, he thought that, like him, Luna did not see it that way at all. It had been something more, a meeting of wounded hearts, two souls desperately reaching out for one another.

George laughed a little, wondering what the others would think if they knew where his thoughts had really been all morning. They would be shocked senseless at the very least.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking," George shook his head, his grin broad. "If the others knew what really happened last night they would be shocked. They seem to have this impression that I don't have a thought beyond how to make things explode."

"Surely they must realize that there is more to you than that?"

George didn't answer. They had come to the brick wall that lead to the alley way behind the Leaky Cauldron.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not lunch here." George motioned with his head towards the noisy inn. "There is a little muggle place on the other side, a couple of blocks down, but if you would rather…"

"Do you mean Dino Italia?" Luna smiled in surprise. She and her father had loved Italian food, Dino Italia had been their favorite place in London.

"You know of it?"

"Know of it? I love it! Dad and I used to eat there a couple of times a month."

Luna looked up at George with wonder and something close to adoration. The cold had given her cheeks a sweet rosy glow that George was finding quite distracting.

"George?" She waved her hand in front of his face.

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly, thankful that the cold would disguise the blush he knew would have been obvious otherwise. "Dino Italia then."

As he had the night before, George held out his hand for hers; unlike the last time, Luna took it without the slightest hesitation.

If possible it was snowing even heavier on the Muggle side of Diagon Alley. They laughed as they watched Muggles struggle to control their four wheeled vehicles on the slippery roads, skidding through stop lights and fishtailing…some nearly colliding with one another. George was perplexed at how they could be so inept, it was the first big snow of the year … yes, but it wasn't as if they had never driven in snow before.

Luna was thankful when Dino Italia came into view. The tip of her nose was frozen, her cheeks felt like ice and her hand…the one that George hadn't been holding was stiff with cold. She was thankful when George asked for seats next to the huge fireplace and pretended not to see when he slipped the waiter a wad of muggle money to assure his request would be granted. George helped her remove her cloak, then slung it over the back of a vacant chair and lay his atop it. Luna hesitated for just a moment, warming her hands close to the fire.

The truth was, now that they were there, she was nervous about having lunch alone with George. Whenever she talked with people, they always seemed to end up laughing at her …she had never once missed the condescending undertones in their mirth. She knew they thought she was strange, a nutter even. They hadn't branded her Loony Lovegood without good reason after all … not that Luna had _personally_ thought it was good reason.

Her father had always been a free thinker with an incredibly open mind. Xenophilius Lovegood believed what he wanted to believe and the hell with what others thought about it; a trait he had passed on to his only child. Luna knew they made fun of her behind her back. Some, like Hermione Granger, even dared to challenge her beliefs to her face. Luna had never cared about any of them, their opinion of her, good or bad, meant nothing to her.

But for reasons she couldn't begin to understand, George Weasley's opinion of her _did_ matter.

It mattered a lot.

She felt as though a single unfavorable word from him would send her running from the room in tears. Like the only way she could remain happy was if he continued to be _happy_ with her. That however, was something that Luna could make no promises on. She could no more stop being who she was than she could stop believing in the things she did. Luna wasn't going to change a bit of herself to please anyone… not even George Weasley. At the end of it all, the question that Luna feared was… _could_ he accept her for who she was?

"Luna?" His voice was soft behind her and Luna thought she detected a hint of nervousness in the tone. She turned back towards the table and he smiled then pulled out her chair.

"Sorry." Luna took the offered chair, sighing silently to herself as he walked back to his own and sat. She would find the answer to her question soon enough; there was no point in worrying over it. This … whatever it was … could be over all too soon… she should enjoy it while she could.

"Are you okay?" George asked worriedly "You seem distracted."

"Oh…" Luna answered nonchalantly, determined to wave off her fears "It's nothing. Just an errant thought about nothing important."

"It must have some importance…" George gave her a teasing grin "… you are taking time out to think about it."

"Well…" Luna looked around nervously. She couldn't exactly tell him what she had _really_ been thinking about. "I was thinking that I am glad we are not sitting close to those."

She nodded to the side of the room where thick garlands of evergreen were laced with twinkling white Christmas lights. "Those garlands are likely teeming with Nargles."

George knew just enough about Luna to not be surprised by her statement. He was even familiar with the word Nargle… once when Ginny couldn't find one of her shoes Ron had teased her about Nargles having stolen it.

"I thought Nargles stole shoes." He said seriously, even though he knew they were one of the things that the Lovegood's believed in that few others in the magical world supported them on.

Luna raised her eyebrows, her eyes huge. Of all the ways George might have answered her, this was positively the last way she might have envisioned. In fact, it wasn't on _any_ list she would have imagined.

"They do that too." She said very seriously; Nargles were, after all, very serious business. "Nargles are very naughty creatures."

"How naughty?"

"Very naughty."

"That's not telling me much." George laced his fingers together under his chin then leaned across the small table on his elbows, looking deeply into her eyes.

"You know Luna, there are varying degrees of naughty, and… there are different kinds of naughty."

The gleam in his eyes made Luna blush a deep rosy pink that George found most attractive.

"Yes, there are." She agreed. "But I assure you, the naughtiness Nargles get up to is quite different than the naughtiness you are fantasizing about at the moment."

George grinned, this was just too much fun. "And just what makes you think that I am fantasizing?"

"Let's not be coy George." Luna nearly shivered, she felt a delicious tingle all over her body. "I am fairly sure were not talking about Nargles anymore."

"Fair enough." George nodded and leaned closer. "Maybe then you should tell me what I am fantasizing _about_."

"I barely know you George Weasley….but I know enough about you to predict with reasonable certainty…." Luna leaned forward so their faces were only inches apart, then her mouth twitched up into a smirk. "…that you are fantasizing about blowing something up."

George looked taken aback for a split second, then he slid back in his chair and picked up his menu. He had just been bested, he… George Weasley… had been bested … _by a girl_.

Smirking madly now, Luna sat back and picked up her own menu.

"Anyone ever tell you that you are cheeky as all hell?" George looked at her over the top of his menu. Luna lowered hers and looked back.

"Once or twice."

"A day?"

Luna laughed. "Are you angry?"

"Hardly." George lowered the menu and put his hand over hers on the table. "More like appreciative."

Luna smiled softly and opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off by the arrival of the waiter, a chubby faced young blonde man named Chad.

"Have you decided?" He smiled warmly at Luna, a smile that George thought lingered a little bit too long.

"Yes." She folded the menu closed and handed it to the young man. "I'll have the Portabella d'Raviolli with the Romano cheese, and no leeks please?"

Chad gave her a perky nod, then turned to George. George couldn't help but notice that his perky smile had slipped about ten notches.

"And for you sir?"

George hadn't even looked at his menu, he had been too busy enjoying the interplay with Luna … but then so had she … or so he thought. With a frustrated jerk he pulled the menu open and looked at the specials, annoyed that his delay in ordering gave Chad more time to chat with Luna.

"Scallop and crab Alfredo." He said finally flipping his menu closed and handing it to Chad; more than eager for him to disappear.

Luna watched Chad's back disappear into the kitchen before turning her eyes back on George. For one reason or another, his demeanor had changed abruptly. George on the other hand was silently kicking himself. The guy was a waiter, they were from two different worlds for crying out loud. They rarely ventured into the muggle world and after this, George wouldn't be bringing her back to Dino Italia anytime soon. The real problem was that he had just acted like an ass in front of her.

He looked up from where he was staring into the fire, not liking the look in her eyes the slightest bit. Luna wasn't angry… she was wary. It struck him then that during her time in Malfoy manor she had been privy to plenty of violence and anger; what if he had frightened her … what if he had made her afraid of him?

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly, careful now to not make things worse.

"You seemed so…" She trailed off, shaking her head and looking back towards the fire. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything Luna, it's me. I'm in a totally unfamiliar country you see."

Luna gave him an adorably bewildered look. George grinned, his good humor restored … not in small part by the fact that Chad was now in an entirely different room, far away from Luna.

"I've never been jealous before." He said simply

"Jealous?" Her eyes widened innocently. "Jealous of what?"

George realized he had two options. He could either go full out, admit that he had been jealous of Chad the cherub faced wanker, or… he could change the subject.

"So, tell me more about what these naughty Nargles get up to." Changing the subject seemed like a much better idea.

Luna's face settled into an amused smile while she tried to decide how far she wanted to push it. She had been raised to confront things head on, to never hide behind tactics as lame as changing the subject.

So why was she about to let George Weasley get away with it?

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Chapter Four Preview

George and Luna's

plans for an evening of fun with the family lead to an incredibly

sweet but grand gesture.

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	4. Golden Blades

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N Thanks to the few who have been reviewing...to those who haven't, please review! I love this story and would love to see what others think of it!

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Snow Angels

Chapter Four

Golden Blades

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Within minutes of returning to the shop after lunch it became glaringly obvious that the afternoon was going to be just as insanely busy as the morning had been. The heavy snow tapered off to flurries by mid afternoon and Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione began to discuss options for ways to pass their evening. Luna listened quietly, her mind still on the lively discussion of Nargles, and then Wrackspurts, that she and George had engaged in during lunch. Despite her many attempts, she had never been able to draw the conversation back to exactly what had made him jealous. She reasoned it had to have _something_ to do with the young muggle waiter, he was the only other person they had come into contact with, but she wasn't exactly sure _why_.

As it was they had lingered over their lunch for nearly two and a half hours… much longer than George had said they would be gone. Perhaps this was why George, much to the amusement of the others, hastily found a reason to be absent from the shop all afternoon.

"Luna?" Ginny waved her hand inches from Luna's face, a wide amused grin playing about her lips. "Are you here, or still … _at lunch_?"

"I'm here." Luna sent out a silent but nasty curse at George for leaving her alone to face the inquisition.

She skirted the counter and walked to the front of the store for more tape. Hermione handed her a fresh roll, a devilish gleam in her eyes.

"Could have fooled us. You've been…_absent_ … since you came back."

"You know," Luna turned around, her elbows resting on the counter behind her. "You lot are terribly nosy. A person would think you would have enough in your own lives to keep your minds occupied."

Behind her, just coming out of the storage room, Ron chortled loudly. "Guess she told you."

Hermione fixed him with a death glare.

"Anyway…" Ginny pulled off the annoying snow elf ears and rested her chin in her palm at the end of the counter. "We were thinking about going skating on the pond tonight after dinner."

Luna's felt an odd sort of elation. Skating was something that she had done with her father at Christmas since was a little girl; it was one of the thing she had known she would miss the most this year.

"That sounds lovely…" She trailed off then, another memory occurred to her. Her skates, along with most of her other belongings, lay under the rubble of her home. She had literally lost everything during the final months of the war. She had even had to replace her school things… the death eaters hadn't taken the time to get them off the Hogwarts Express like they had her. "Except, I don't have a pair of skates anymore."

"Oh…" Hermione looked crestfallen, but for only a moment. "We can owl George, he's in Hogsmeade right? There is that little shop there that sells the loveliest skates."

Luna remembered the shop; her father had sent her money for a new pair of skates just two Decembers' ago. The shop had always been a favorite of hers and she adored Mr. Harriman, the shopkeeper. She loved the smell of the boot leather and the scent of the pipe tobacco Mr. Harriman used…the exact same kind her father smoked, a sweet tobacco smell with deep notes of cherry.

Hermione had already scribbled out a note and was tying it to the leg of George's tawny barn owl before Luna came out of her thoughts.

"No, you shouldn't. Those skates are very expensive and I haven't been to Gringott's yet, I don't have that much gold with me."

"You can get it tomorrow can't you?" Ginny pushed off the counter and reached down to take off her snow elf shoes. "George won't mind if you pay him back then."

"But I…"

"You wear a size seven, right?" Hermione asked, removing the scroll from the owl's leg. "Silly me, he's going to need a size."

"Six actually." Ginny corrected and smiled when Luna looked at her quizzically. "The angel slippers are a size too big on you, they are a size seven."

"Yes, size six. Alright then, but tell George I will pay him back tomorrow morning after I have a chance to go to Gringotts." Luna sighed in resignation and began to work the angel wings off her shoulders. It was much easier putting them on than it was getting them off… particularly when George had been the one helping her.

Hermione grinned and tied the note to the Owls leg. If Luna actually believed he would allow her to pay him back for the skates, she obviously didn't know George Weasley.

Well, it would be entertaining to watch her try at least.

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The evening air was crisp and cold while Harry and the Weasley men, sans George, worked with their wands to clear the considerable amount of snow off the pond behind the Burrow. In the air above them a ring of soft blue bell flames, compliments of Arthur Weasley, lit the ground below and lent it a slight bit of warmth.

The women stood off to side, three of which kept casting nervous glances towards the house, waiting for the appearance of the missing Weasley. Luna, on the other hand, refused to look in that direction at all.

"I'm sure he just got held up." Molly said to no one in particular "You know how fussy people can be while negotiating."

"I thought they had worked out all the details?" Hermione said. Luna stubbornly kept her eyes on the bluebell flames.

"Starting this second shop is important to George." Molly said reassuringly. "He will want to make sure everything is done up nice and tight."

"And… knowing him he is probably taking his time to get the best skates in the shop." Ginny smirked "He seems to be a bit _fussy_ these days."

Luna resisted the urge to bat bogey her best friend. It had been like that all day. Subtle, and not so subtle, jibes about what might or might not be happening with her and George. This might be par for the course for someone like George … someone who had grown up in a large family and was used to having people in his business … but Luna was starting to feel wary of it all.

Of course, she reasoned, it might not be so wearing if she knew _exactly_ what they were teasing her about, or rather, if they had _reason_ to be teasing her. Thus far George had treated her like anyone would treat a friend. He had been kind, and sweet, and made her feel happy. Yet there had been other moments too, times when she had almost, _almost_, felt it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to think it could be something more.

Jealous… for some unfathomable reason, George had said that he had been jealous… because of _something_ to do with her. It made absolutely no sense. No one had ever been jealous of her before, certainly no one had ever been jealous _over _her before. George wasn't the only one in unfamiliar territory.

Luna wasn't used to being noticed, at least not favorably. She had been at the center point of finger pointing, laughter and whispers behind hands, and school mate crime waves for as long as she could remember. But for someone to look at her the way George had from the first moment that they met … and for every moment after … was unheard of.

Feeling ridiculed she was used to, it was the norm … it was the daily routine.

Feeling cherished was anything but, and that was what she felt like when George Weasley looked at her…. cherished.

It was all so odd, so strange and unexpected. So how was she to know how to react to that, let alone know how to react to her friends teasing her about it?

The ice now clear the others had sat down on the various rocks and fallen trees that lined the area around the pond to put their skates on. Luna copied them, sitting a fair distance from the others, though she had no skates of her own. Noticing this, Harry rose from his own log and skid over on one skate and nearly broke his neck while he attempted to gracefully sit down next to her…instead he landed face first in the pile of snow next to the log. He grinned, his face shockingly red … whether from the cold or from the embarrassment, Luna couldn't be completely sure.

Luna watched with mild amusement while he brushed the snow out of the collar of his heavy cloak and the place where his glove met his wrist, and then she couldn't resist the small bit of giggles when he tipped his skate over to dump out a large chunk of snow.

"It's a good thing I am better at dueling than I am at skating." he grinned "I would be out of a job right now."

Luna pushed the thought out of her head that, had he not been adept at dueling, they would all be dead right now. It had never failed to amaze her how Harry Potter could be so blasé about all he had done for the wizarding world; but it wasn't his accomplishments that Harry had risked life and limb to come across the frozen earth to speak to her about.

"She didn't mean to upset you."

'_So they had noticed.' _Luna felt a slight embarrassment stain her cheeks.

"This is very … _different_ for them… well, for all of us really." He gave a short but riotous laugh "It would be much worse if Fred were here."

"How so?"

"This is… new to all of us." It occurred to Luna that she had been hearing variations on that theme an awful lot lately "George has never shown the slightest interest in anyone before, at least none that lasted more than five minutes. Then, he disappears last night, worries his mum half to death, Mr. Weasley was on the verge of sending us out to look for him in fact … when he shows up again, and… he's not alone."

Luna knew that something had happened the night before, something that had lead George to the streets of Diagon Alley. She had also known that he had been upset over Fred, but for some reason she had never thought that perhaps his family had been upset over his leaving, nor had she considered what they might have truly thought his returning with her in tow might have meant.

"We have been watching him closely all week, waiting for signs that he was about to break again. He seemed so close last night… we were all worried when he left." Harry turned to Luna. She looked terribly confused and he realized that he was leaving out a vital piece of the story.

"I'm sorry, you weren't here at the beginning, you would have to know the full story to understand and it really isn't my place to tell you. About all I can say is that … Fred and George were close, even more close than normal for twins. Fred's death was … difficult."

Luna nodded mutely. She hadn't known Fred and George at Hogwarts, not really. Even though they had been in Dumbledore's Army together she had been far from their inner circle. Still, one didn't have to be in their inner circle to see how close the two had been; it wasn't hard to imagine the hell George had been plunged into when Fred died. She had seen it in his eyes when he spoke of it the night before.

_"How? How do you get by? This pain...I feel...sometimes I feel like it is going to smother me. I can't breathe; I can't move...I can't even think. I miss him so damned much!"_

They were the words of someone suffering, someone in great pain. If George was still feeling this way, months later, the pain he had to have felt in the immediate days after had to have been unbearable.

Harry could tell that Luna was coming up with her own answers. He had always known she was smart.

"When George came back with you last night, we could all see that something had changed in him. We didn't know what; not at first, he just seemed happier. After watching him with you today … we have a pretty good clue now what's going on with him."

Luna opened her mouth to protest and Harry laughed.

"George is obsessed with his shop Luna. He works sixteen hour days most days, sometimes; he doesn't even bother coming home. He won't go near the flat … too many memories of Fred there, but he keeps a cot in the storage room. For the past few months we've referred to the shop as _'his wife' _and for good reason." Harry stopped and gave Luna a look that dared her to not believe him. Luna did believe him, she had seen it herself today, how absorbed George had become at times in things, more absorbed than seemed normal.

"He cheated on '_his wife' _today by taking a two and a half hour lunch with you."

"Well…it was my fault. I started talking about Nargles, that of course got me started on Wrackspurts which lead me naturally to the Rotfang Conspiracy."

Harry looked away to hide his grin. "I would think that would be a moot issue, now that Fudge is out of power."

"It doesn't mean he couldn't be trying to rise again." Luna shrugged and looked towards where the others had taken to the ice. Ginny was looking at Luna worriedly, afraid she had offended her. "Maybe he will try to imperious Minister Shacklebolt once he becomes permanent in January. You know, they say that earring he wears is a charm that wards off evil, but even charms can be broken."

Harry laughed out loud now, he couldn't help it. It just so happened he had to go into the Ministry the next day to meet with Kingsley, he couldn't wait to warn him that his '_earring charm'_ might be useless when Cornelius Fudge tried to imperious him so he could take over the world using tooth decay as his weapon of choice.

Ron and Hermione beckoned to him from the ice and he felt bad for a moment about leaving her behind … until a loud crack in the direction of the house echoed through the darkness. At last, George had arrived. Harry waved and then leaned down to talk softly in her ear.

"The reason the others keep teasing you is because they are relieved." He pulled back and smiled "He's happy again, and to all appearances, that's because of you."

Harry winked and straightened up again. "About time you get here." He said to George who was just approaching from behind them, a large white box in his hands.

"Took a bit longer than I was planning." George shrugged and sat in the place next to Luna that Harry had just abandoned. His family waved from the ice and he waved back. Harry turned and attempted to gracefully slide to the ice … instead he did a combination skid and flip that landed him on his seat in another pile.

"Serves him right, cheeky little geek." He turned to Luna with a smile. "Hi."

"Hello yourself." She smiled nervously. Harry's words still rang in her ears, making her heart hurt for the man sitting next to her. As impossible as it was, she tried to imagine his pain, how much he had suffered in the early days after Fred Weasley's death. She turned away from him, it was even more impossible than she had thought it would be. Luna had never had a brother or sister, let alone a twin. It was a pain she could never fathom and it struck her that it might be disrespectful to even try.

"Are you okay?" George asked in a soft and worried voice. He wondered if she was still upset about what had happened during their lunch.

He had been a coward, abruptly changing the subject the way he had. Even worse, he had left her alone to face the others the rest of the afternoon… not that he had particularly planned on doing that. His offer to buy Zonko's was in danger of falling through, he'd had to act fast to save it and it was only by a narrow margin that he had… and at the last possible moment.

Buying Zonko's had been the last plan he and Fred had made together. They had been planning to split up; George would run one shop, Fred the other. It wasn't a split in the official sense of the word, they would both be Weasley's Wizards Wheezes…. but they would be spreading out. The first step in their master plan to spread their joke shops to every corner of the wizarding world. The master plan was out of reach now, or at least it would be for a long time, but they had already put a bid in on Zonko's in Hogsmeade … a bid that had lay dormant since the death of Albus Dumbledore had made Hogsmeade, the only pure wizarding village in the country, also the most dangerous village in the wizarding world.

"I'm fine." Luna struggled to force some cheerfulness into her voice. "Were you able to rescue your negotiations?"

George smiled and patted the pocket of his cloak. "Ah yes. It's all mine."

"That's wonderful George." Luna smiled genuinely now. George's face had changed once again; she could see the happiness that Harry claimed returned to George's life reflected in his soft brown eyes. "I'm glad."

"I'll be living in Hogsmeade, starting after the New Year. Maybe we could see each other when you have Hogsmeade visits."

"I've never spent much time in the village to be honest; it wasn't much fun going alone." Luna looked out at where the others skated smoothly over the ice. They had invited her to go with them plenty of times but always she had said no. It wasn't much fun being a third wheel, but this offer was different. First it was from George and second, well, it was to _see _George. "I would like to see your new shop, and you."

George was pleased, particularly since she had tacked on the last.

"These are for you." He set the white box in her lap, then turned slightly and pointed his wand at his bedroom window.

"_Accio Skates" _

"Thank you." Luna pulled at the ties on the box, anxious now to get on the ice with the others. They looked to be having so much fun. "I feel so bad having put you to such trouble when you had other things to deal with."

"It was no trouble." George shrugged and caught his skates deftly as they flew towards them, careful to put himself between them and Luna … just in case. "No trouble at all."

"Well, it was very kind of you and I will go to Gringott's first thing in the morning and…" Luna stopped dead, gaping down at the skates. They were beautiful, the boots made of the finest leather she had ever seen. The scent was richer than she had ever experienced in Harriman's and the blades were a deep gold color.

Mr. Harriman didn't make skates with golden blades…Luna knew this for a fact. Once she had confessed to him that her dream was to own a pair with just such a blade and he had confessed that the metal was difficult to come by and far too expensive for him to carry in his little shop.

Luna picked up one of the skates and flipped it over to read the words printed across the heel of the boots.

'_*Snöängel av Sverige' _

"George…"

"You should hurry; the others will be done by the time we get out there." George ignored her and went about putting his own skates on.

"George!" Luna had already let him get away without telling her the whole truth once that day… she wasn't about to let him get away with it again. "You went to Sweden…to one of the finest makers of skates in the world…to get me a pair of skates?"

Luna didn't know whether to be angry or impressed. She had no problem knowing to be overwhelmed.

"Harriman didn't have any made in your size." He shrugged in a manner that was so nonchalant and matter of fact that Luna was slightly annoyed. There seemed to be a blasé epidemic … maybe Harry's had rubbed off on George.

"So you went to Sweden, when there is another skate maker in Godrics Hollow, not to mention the dozen's of others in muggle London."

She turned to him, something else had just occurred to her. "How did you know I had always wanted skates with gold blades? You had to have known … it isn't something people just randomly choose… I know how expensive they are."

George was busted, he knew it and Luna certainly knew it. George also knew that he had barely gotten away with it once that day … there would be no getting away with it again.

"Mr. Harriman asked who I was buying them for. When I told him they were for you he told me how you had always wanted a pair of skates with gold blades. There is only one skate maker remotely near here that makes them."

"_Snöängel av Sverige" _Luna looked at him with a shocked, awed look on her face. No one went to Sweden for a simple pair of skates. Not even her overindulgent father, even after she had begged for two weeks straight when she was twelve.

The skates were beautiful, muted starlight glinted off the gold and the rich scent of the leather was sweet. Knowing that George had gone to such lengths … for her… she was near to speechless.

George was nervous. He had meant to make her happy … in a small selfish way he had wanted to make up for making an ass out of himself over lunch. Going to Sweden was no big deal, not for a wizard. Sure, the skates had been costly, but it wasn't as if he couldn't afford it. He had spent much more money, on much less, on a whim. His bedroom closet in the flat above the shop gave proof of that.

"I'm sorry," He shifted and set his own skates on the ground. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset." Luna shook her head and laughed a little. "Overwhelmed, yes. Shocked, definitely, but upset … no. It was an amazingly sweet thing to do George. I have dreamed of owning these since I first saw a picture of them in Mr. Harriman's catalogues when I was eleven… but I guess you know that. I will, of course, go to Gringott's first thing in the morning to get the gold to pay you back."

"No you won't." George picked up his skates again, bracing himself for the argument he knew was about to start.

"Yes I will." Luna stubbornly dug in as well.

"No you won't. Now hurry up, the others are waiting." He nodded over to the ice where they were not only waiting, but now watching curiously. "They are staring too."

"I won't use them unless you agree to let me pay you back." Luna crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest.

"Then I guess they will rot in the snow." Not to be outdone, George pushed the box out of her lap into the snow. Luna, of course, reacted just the way he knew she would.

"Hey!" She bent down to snatch the skates out of the snow, and then held them protectively to her chest. "Are you trying to ruin them?"

"What do you care? You said you didn't want them."

"I never said that."

"May as well have." He grinned smugly, his face down where Luna couldn't see it while he tightened the laces on his skate. He took off his other shoe and gave her a brief glance. She was cuddling the skates in the same way a mother held a beloved child... he had her exactly where he wanted her.

"They might make nice hiding holes for Gnomes come spring."

"Over my dead body." Luna said indignantly. She knew she was being played. George was manipulating the hell out of her, but she was pretty much powerless to stop it. As soon as she had seen the golden blades she knew that the skates were a gift, he would never allow her to pay him back in a million years. Still, she had to at least make a token effort … she didn't want him to think she was a _total _push over.

"Fine..." She slipped into her most put upon tone and kicked off her boots; she was already fantasizing about how it would feel to glide over the ice. "… but I am not accepting payment for working in the shop."

"You can't do that."

"Oh yes I can." She slipped her feet into the boots both at the same time, the soft leather feeling even better than she had dreamed it would. "If you try to slip it to me, I will just have Hermione slip it back in the till when you aren't looking."

It was George's turn to look at her with awed amusement. Luna was no pushover, but then, had he ever really believed she would let him get away with it?

Not likely.

His own skates in place now, George stood besides the fallen log, the others yelling at them to hurry up and join them. Harry had long since extracted himself from the pile of snow and now stood besides Ginny, shouting with the rest of them.

"Are we going to skate or are you planning on sitting there all night plotting to thwart my evil plans to do something nice for you?"

Luna might have felt bad if not for the mischievously contagious smirk George was wearing.

"You started it." She tied the last knot and then rose to her feet. George offered his hand and she took it. "Going to Sweden of all places. Is that why it took you so long?"

"Yes and no."

"Yes and no." Luna looked up at him, trying to gauge his answer. Knowing George, such simple words could mean so many things.

"Yes and no." He grinned devilishly then turned, tugging on her hand. He wasn't about to expand on those words further… he had the strangest feeling she wouldn't like finding out that he had waited five hours for them to custom make them.

Luna considered arguing further but relented; somehow she had a feeling that this was one of those things she would be happier not knowing. Instead, she decided to focus on the kindness of his gesture rather than just how much effort he had put into it. She felt a little mean now, having kicked up such a fuss when she had first found out where he new skates had come from. When it came down to it, it didn't matter. Doing something nice for her had obviously made George happy, very happy, so who was she to begrudge him that happiness?

"George." She tugged gently on his hand and he stopped, turning back towards her, his face set to begin the arguing anew. He could go as many rounds as she could after all. Luna couldn't resist a giggle at the hard, determined look on his face and she knew that even if she _had_ been planning to argue, which she wasn't, she never would have won.

"Yes." He lowered her a stern look

"Thank you." She resisted the urge to kiss his cheek, his family was watching after all and despite Harry's words earlier, she wasn't anxious to invite any more teasing… at least not any time soon. "What you did was so … amazingly kind. I have wanted these since I was eleven years old; I just want you to know that I will cherish them … always."

A myriad of temptations ran through George when he saw the soft look in Luna's eyes. The strongest and most demanding was to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Much to his dismay however, to do that would be totally inappropriate. That his family stood watching only a scant few yards away was the smallest of his concerns, the greatest was that it was much too soon. For someone who had always been a thinker who thought things through before acting on them, he was finding it awfully difficult to hold on to his common sense when it came to Luna Lovegood. If he had any hopes of things working between them, he needed to do just that. She… _they_… had been through far too much to rush blindly into anything.

"You are very welcome Luna." Instead of following his mad desire to kiss her, he raised her hand to his lips and gently kissed the fingers. He knew his family (and Harry and Hermione) were going to raise the roof over that one small gesture, but it was appropriate. "I like doing things for you."

George was fairly sure the wolf-whistle had come from his father, when he looked up his mother was elbowing him in the ribs anyway. George was moving even closer to having to start counting on his toes the times in his life had had blushed…

…it was a good thing he had his shoes off.

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* _Snöängel av Sverige -SnowAngel of Sweden

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Chapter Five Preview

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Christmas draws closer but

what is Christmas without a Christmas tree? Ginny's

yearly quest for the perfect tree sends the Weasley's deep into the forest…but searching for a tree is the last

thing on George and Luna's mind when they find themselves

in front of a cozy campfire under the stars.

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	5. Oh Christmas Tree

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling *Chapter contains quote from Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

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A/N Awww C'mon, Review! It's not that hard!

Carpe Diem-Latin-Seize the moment

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Snow Angels

Chapter Five

Oh Christmas Tree

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The next day dawned bright, cold and clear. Luna was thankful for this as she gazed out the window after waking, Ginny had told them that heavy snow or not, they would be going into the woods to search out their Christmas tree that night. The others had expected George to be reluctant, to maybe even refuse to close the shop early to join the others, but not Luna. Luna maybe not have known the George from before the war, but she knew enough to know that he _was_ shifting, maybe not back to the way he had been before, but perhaps to someone even better.

There was a soft knock seconds before the door slid open to reveal a smiling face.

"Out of bed sleepy head." George grinned at her, his smile so infectious that there was no way in the world that Luna could not have returned it. "The others are down at breakfast already."

"I'm awake." She reached for her robe and pulled it on before sliding out of bed. "It's a lovely morning, don't you think?"

"Very lovely." Luna had turned to her overnight bag and didn't notice, her sliding off the foot of the bed had exposed a great deal of leg... something George _had_ noticed. Fortunately for him, he averted his gaze before she had a chance to turn around and catch him looking somewhere he really shouldn't have been.

"I forgot to take clothes again last night." George shook himself, trying to dislodge the image of Luna's legs from his mind. "I'll just wait on the stairs."

"No." Luna turned quickly, her clothes in her hands. "Wait George, I can go downstairs and use the bathroom. No need to wait."

She pushed past him and was halfway down the stairs before he had a chance to protest. "I'll be waiting on the stairs so I can come back in and make the bed." She called after herself before disappearing into the bathroom at the bottom of the stairwell.

George grinned, he imagined this was some sort of revenge, Luna's way of trying one up him for getting away with the whole skates thing. She was wasting her time, it was never going to happen. He looked at the bed, a smirk coming to his lips, then he made it up, tucking the sheets in perfectly as his mother had taught him. He dressed quickly, savoring the indignant look he knew Luna was going to flash him when she saw that he had already done the little chore for her. He was grinning madly by the time he pulled open the door to see Luna waiting patiently by the window.

"Rooms all your's." He smiled and let her past, silently waiting.

"George!" She hissed, careful to keep her voice low. "Why did you make the bed?"

"I felt like doing something nice."

"You felt like rubbing it in that you got away with buying me those expensive skates more like it."

"That too." He smirked deviously.

"And you think I'll let you get away with this do you?"

"Of course you will."

"And why is this?"

"Because if you spill the beans to the others they will wonder why I was making your bed. Harry, Ron and Ginny actually have fairly dirty minds, they might wonder if I played a part in mussing it… hence, the reason why I might feel a need to make it. Now, I don't know about you … but, I certainly don't want to listen to their conjectures all day about why or why not I may have done it … do you?"

George smirked and passed her, leaving her standing opened mouthed on the landing.

Luna's grandfather on her mothers side had been muggle born and when she was small, they visited him every Christmas. Luna was fascinated by his television, for on it, she could watch 'videos', of his many, many, videos there had been one Christmas video that had been her very, very favorite … _'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' _

George's smirk reminded Luna far too much of the Grinch from her Grandfathers video…

_*'The words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote, … stink, stank, stunk!'

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The day passed in a blur of activity. Christmas was growing ever closer, which meant the shop was busier with each moment that passed. George had gone to the Daily Prophet early that morning and put in a last minute advertisement for two under managers who would help him run the two shops. Ron would take over as manager in the Diagon Alley shop, but he would be leaving after taking his N.E.W.T.s in the spring to begin Auror training with Harry. By then, George needed to have both shops squared away.

By lunch time it was glaringly obvious there would be no time for a two and a half hour lunch. George had already booked up his afternoon with interviews, not to mention the entire next two days. He was hoping more than anything that he would find someone who would fit in the first few interviews so he could cancel the others. By the time they closed the shop at four-thirty George was hopeful, he had two that he planned to call back for second interviews. Still, he was more than ready to push business to the back of his mind for the rest of the night by the time they finally apparated back to the Burrow.

"Now remember…" Ginny began while they dished up bowls of hot, steaming stew before their planned excursion into the forest for their Christmas tree. "…it has to be big, and spectacular."

"Yes Ginny, we know." Arthur said in a bland, some what worn voice. She _had_ been going on about it for days; the whole discussion was getting a bit … old.

"And check with me before you chop anything down. No sense in killing tress we can't be sure of."

Ron and Harry exchanged eye rolls...they had heard her instructions before.

"We won't kill any trees that don't need to die Ginny, don't worry." Percy patted her hand being unintentionally condescending. Ginny turned her glare on him.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Percy said seriously, his eyes subtly checking to be sure she hadn't brought her wand to the table with her. "We just want you to be happy."

"And find the perfect tree." Hermione put in. She was, after all, sitting within Ginny's line of fire.

"Don't worry dear. Everything will be fine." Molly worked up a smile, even though she too had begun to grow tired of Ginny's Christmas tree obsession. It had been cute when she was four, her adorable demands that Daddy find the perfect tree, that it be decorated in just the right way and that the fairy lights give the exact perfect amount of twinkle so that the lights would dance on the ceiling and windows just right. It had stopped being adorable somewhere around the time Ginny had been eight, when she yelled at Bill and called him a stupid git for chopping down the wrong tree … and Ron had pushed her down for it then yelled at her for being a snotty little prat.

Ginny had mellowed out a bit the older she got, she was still picky, still demanded the final say… but she was more open to letting the others have their say too. Not that they ever won, but at least she let them talk now.

"I just want it to be really nice this year." Ginny looked around nervously, knowing they all knew why this year was so important, but not about to say it out loud.

"It will be Ginny." George smiled at her softly. He understood well that she was trying so hard in no little part because of him. She wanted to make _him _happy. The thing was though, it wasn't the decorations that would make the season wonderful, just as it had been in all the Christmas's past, it was the people around him that made Christmas special. Yes, one of them was gone this year, but he was thankful for the ones who still remained and he had been foolish to have lost sight of that in the beginning.

Dinner now finished, they pulled on their cloaks, mittens and hats and began to decide who would go with whom. Charlie had arrived that morning and so they divided into perfect pairs, Arthur and Molly, Percy and Charlie, Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Ginny … leaving George to pair with Luna.

They had only an hour or so of daylight left so they separated at the entrance to the forest, Ginny reminding them once again not to touch a single tree until she gave her approval.

George waited until the others were out of sight before he reached for Luna's hand and lead her into their appointed area.

"Ginny is a bit …." Luna began hesitantly.

"Obsessed?" George finished with a grin.

"Yes." Luna smiled up at him "Has she always been this way or does she do it out of some odd holiday need to impress guests?"

"Oh, no." George laughed loudly "It has nothing to do with you, I assure you. Ginny has been like this since she was little. The Christmas she was nine, she kept us all out here so late dad finally put his foot down and chopped down the next tree we came to. Ginny had a fit. The next day, she refused to help decorate it, just sat in her room and pouted the rest of the night."

"Poor Ginny." Luna sighed "That must have been miserable."

"Poor Ginny?" George exclaimed loudly in disbelief "She made us miserable that entire Christmas! It got so bad that Bill and Charlie offered to go and with her and find a better tree, but she refused. If you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for Harry. He's the one who's going to marry her and be stuck with it for the rest of his life."

Luna giggled despite herself. The image of the famous Harry Potter chasing through the forest after a crabby wife was just too ridiculous.

"Ahhh… yes." George grinned and stopped in front of a fallen log and began brushing the snow off of it. "This is my spot."

"Your spot for what?" Luna asked innocently

George grinned mischievously then motioned to her to sit down. "This is where Fred and I always used to sit and wait out the insanity."

He winked and began to gather small bits of wood. Luna ignored the log, choosing to help him gather wood instead.

"Aren't we supposed to be looking for a Christmas tree?"

"Not much point." George kicked away a circle of snow, then lay a pile of kindling in the center.

"_Incednio" _

Luna used her wand to cut apart a large tree limb, then lay it in a pile next to where George was stacking his own wood on the burning kindling. With nothing else to do, and since they obviously were going to have nothing to do with finding a Christmas tree, Luna took the previously offered seat on the log.

"So … why is there no point in helping look for a Christmas tree?"

"Because…" He flashed a cheeky grin and sat next to her on the log. "Ginny has always hated any tree Fred and I picked out. I have no reason to assume that will change now."

"So you're not even going to try?"

"Sure as rain on the first day of summer vacation, Ginny will hate any tree I like." George shook his head "So there is absolutely no point in our tramping through the snow, getting all cold and wet, when we could be sitting here by a nice fire, all warm and toasty, enjoying each others company."

"Just because Ginny doesn't like _your_ taste in trees, it doesn't mean she won't like mine." Luna countered.

"No offense Luna, but your tastes have proven to be even more eccentric than mine."

Loathe as she was to admit it, George had her there, and the truth was...Ginny wasn't likely to be fond of her choice in trees either. Luna was one of those overly compassionate types, the kind who would take the puniest tree in the forest because she didn't want it to feel bad because no one had chosen it. Somehow, Luna didn't think that a puny tree was what Ginny had in mind. Still …

"I have the oddest feeling this has less to do with Ginny not liking your choice in trees and more to do with your not wanting to run about the forest all night."

George looked at her, a trace of a smirk twitching the corners of his mouth. Luna was much more attuned to people than he had given her credit for.

"You know Luna, I would be completely and totally wounded by that comment…"

Luna turned toward him and arched an eyebrow; a fantastic grin took the place of George's indignation.

"…if it weren't completely and totally true."

George winked, then reached for his bag and began to dig inside. A moment later he came out with a thermos and two cups which he filled with rich hot cocoa. Luna accepted it, grateful for the warmth, even with the fire so close.

The sunset was beginning to give way to darkness, over their heads the stars had begun to appear. The sky was void of clouds, promising a clear but cold night. The forest was mostly silent, the only sound the occasional crunch of a small animals paw on the snow, or a squirrel raiding his fall harvest of nuts. The others were far enough away that their voices couldn't be heard. Occasionally, red sparkles appeared in the sky … the traditional sign that someone had found a tree for Ginny to come and look at, yet the gold sparkles … the ones that meant that one had met her approval … seemed as elusive as ever.

"Do you think it will take them long?" Luna watched George tug another large piece of wood onto the fire, the third time he had had to replenish it.

"Hard to say." He shrugged and looked at his watch, it was six thirty…they had been there less than an hour. "One year she kept us out here until eleven."

"It's nice though, having traditions." She smiled softly and gazed deeply into the fire, her mind on her father. George let his mind slide to their own traditions … the things that he had always taken for granted, but never would again. Little things…like their yearly search for a Christmas tree.

The year before they hadn't come into the forest, it was far too dangerous by then. It was the only time he could remember Ginny not complaining about the kind of tree they had, mostly because no one … including her … had been thinking about a tree at all, nor were they expecting one. With a little jolt, George remembered that Luna had been the reason why Ginny hadn't cared about a tree last year. Ginny had came off he Hogwarts Express only days before shaken and upset, she had been in the same compartment and seen Luna taken off by Death Eaters … Ginny had been convinced she would never see her best friend ever again and though none of them said it out loud, the rest of the Weasley's were sure Ginny was right.

George shuddered with the memory, thankful that Luna was looking towards the forest and not at him. He could only imagine the look on his face.

He forced his mind to happier thoughts. The day before Christmas eve he and Fred had gone out into the edge of the forest and cut down the first tree they came to then stayed up half the night decorating it. It was skinny and sparse, exactly the kind of tree Ginny would have hated other years and Fred and George had never been exactly great artistes or masters of taste. It was tinsel heavy on one side, nearly bare on the next; all of the fairy lights were huddled in the middle near the trunk in fear and they had repeated their gnome stunt from the year before.

Ginny hadn't cared about any of that. Her eyes widened in awe and wonder when she saw the tree and though she jokingly admitted later that is was the ugliest tree she had ever laid eyes on, she also told them it was her favorite tree ever.

"What was your Christmas's like?" He turned back to Luna, his face glowing with memories. "With your father?"

A sweet smile came to Luna's face; a smile so innocent that made her look like a tiny child.

"Christmas was … wonderful." She breathed, her eyes wide and dreamy. "I can even remember the last one with my mum, when I was nine. She was a lot like Ginny is about Christmas trees; except she always wanted the one that no one else would pick… I'm very much like her in that respect, so I reckon it is like you said before … a good thing I am not helping in the search."

"Your mother sounds wonderful."

"She was." Luna nodded, her tone was solemn and reverent, the kind of tone one only used when speaking of someone worthy of hero status, or someone they loved deeply. It was the same tone he and the others used when speaking of Fred.

"It wasn't just at Christmas either. My Mum and Dad were the kind of people who believed with their whole hearts that every single day was special…. _'Carpe Diem'_, they used to say it ten times a day _'Carpe Diem, Carpe Diem' _. It's on the Lovegood family crest you know, Carpe Diem.

"Every day with them was wonderful, but that last Christmas with my Mum …it was…" Her voice had taken on a far off, dreamy quality; almost as if she had been transported by time turner back to her ninth Christmas. Luna shook herself out of the haze then looked up at George and smiled; a tiny bit embarrassed now. "I don't think the words exist to describe it."

"I know exactly what you mean." George smiled mistily and took her hand in his, his thoughts once again on his last Christmas with Fred. "Sometimes, it's better to just remember. When you try to tell other people it never comes out right."

"I don't understand." Luna stared into the fire instead of looking at George. "How are you doing it?"

George was abashed. "Doing what?"

"Everything I feel, everything I can't explain to others…when I try to tell you, I realize that I don't need to…" She turned now and looked at him with watery eyes. "Because you already understand."

George wanted to laugh; if not for the fact that Luna was on the verge of tears and he was afraid she would think he was laughing _at her_, he would have. Luna had just summed up so perfectly what he had been trying to figure out by himself for the past two days. He shifted on the log so he could face her properly, then pulled the mug from her hand, set it next to his in the snow and took both of her hands in his.

"It's not just you, it's me too. There was only one person who understood me the way you do."

"My mum always said Dad and I were like peas in a pod." Luna sniffed and held tight to his hands. "As much as she loved me, and I her… my father was the only one who ever understood me. Everyone laughs at me when I talk about Nargles and things that I believe in … but you didn't, even though I know you don't believe, and you _listened_."

"Who says I don't believe?"

"George, don't be silly. I know you don't believe in the things I do."

George opened his mouth to protest but closed it when Luna narrowed her eyes. This was an argument that he wasn't going to win. "Okay, maybe I don't believe, but _you _believe and that's what matters. I don't expect that you will be interested in everything I am either. The point is, when you care about someone, you care about everything about them … you don't just get to pick and chose what parts of them to accept."

"You really do understand me."

George nodded nervously, his words running in instant replay in his mind. If he wasn't mistaken, he had just intimated that they were in a relationship. He wasn't about to back down, even if it was a bit soon, and to his pleased surprise, it didn't seem as if Luna wanted him to. Her eyes were dancing, filled with the starlight from the now deep blue sky. Around them, the snow hard turned a soft, sapphire blue that sparkled with a million twinkles. Had it been snowing, it would have been almost like being inside the most beautiful snow globe George had ever seen in his life. Perfect, and yet surreal. The urge to kiss her rose inside of him again, it was different now, sliding further from longing and closer to needing. He moved closer, lowering his chin as he did … pleased to see that Luna met his action by raising her own chin by the smallest fraction of an inch.

Luna could feel his breath touch her face, the sweet scent of the hot cocoa lingered to sweeten her expectation. Her mind was frozen somewhere between the shocking reality that she was about to have her very first kiss…and that her very first kiss was to be with _George Weasley_. She had always thought it would be someone more like her, someone like Neville Longbottom or maybe even Dean Thomas… she had almost kissed Dean one night, the summer before at Shell Cottage when they had all been a little tipsy on Firewhiskey the night Professor Lupin came to tell them about his son being born.

But George Weasley … never… not in a million years.

He dropped her hands and moved them to her face. Luna's skin was cold, but so soft it was like touching the soft silken bolts of fabric that had once filled the sitting room while his mother and Fleur sampled fabric for her wedding dress. George remembered how they had slapped his and Fred's hands when they touched and shooed them out of the house… no one was going to shoo him away from Luna, he would hex anyone who tired.

He was so close now, the tip of his nose brushed gently over hers and he closed his eyes. Luna followed suit, her hands catching in the loose wool of the cloak that rested over his chest. Their lips were less than an inch apart, now only half an inch…a quarter of an inch… and eighth of an inch… and then…

A loud explosion sounded just over their heads; with an exasperated sigh George leaned back and opened his eyes to see a shower of golden sparks.

Ginny had found her perfect tree.

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Chapter Six Preview

Decorating the

tree leads to a special moment between

George and Luna

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	6. Evergreen and Mistletoe

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews last chapter! Please keep them coming! Happy Thanksgiving!

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Snow Angels

Chapter Six

Evergreen and Mistletoe

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Luna was amused to find that, while George was clever enough to get out of the yearly hunt to _find_ the perfect tree, even he wasn't clever enough to worm his way out of helping to _decorate_ said tree.

They had hastily broken apart at the first sign of Ginny's golden sparks and kicked the fire out, vanishing all traces that there had ever been one. It wouldn't take the others long to cut the tree down and levitate it back to the edge of the forest. They stomped around; making several trails that lead in and out of the deepest parts of the thick set trees … they had to at least make it look good.

By the time the others came to the opening in the trees, George and Luna were lagging behind, covered in tree needles, sap and looking just as exhausted as the others, yet they drew suspicion anyway. They were the only ones, after all, who had not sent up a single set of red sparks into the sky.

Back at the house, Arthur had trimmed the branches off the lower part of the tree, fit it into the stand, and then submerged the entire thing into a large pan of sugar water to rest. On Sunday morning, Arthur and the other Weasley males went about getting the boxes down from the attic in the barn, and then went back out into the forest to cut off large branches of evergreen to be wound into garlands and wreaths. Ginny, with Molly and Fleur's encouragement, was not settling for paper chains this year, she wanted the real thing.

They spent the better part of the morning, and a large chunk of the afternoon weaving garlands, and then twisting parts of those into wreaths. The rest found itself tied to the fences, around the lamp posts, along the eves of the barn and house and across every mantle and railing in the house.

By dinner time, the house had taken on a lovely, woodsy smell and Ginny was not the only Weasley wearing a happy glow in anticipation of decorating the tree after dinner. Ginny, Luna and Hermione had spent the afternoon sorting decorations, repairing a few that had broken and laying them out in the order that they thought they should be arranged on the tree. Next to the table, a large jar of glittering Christmas fairies waved at them happily while they waited to be set loose to find their way to a comfortable branch.

Yet even amongst all this happiness and peace, George had noticed Luna growing more nervous as the day wore one. He could not be completely sure, but he was almost totally convinced it was the fault of Nargles.

Not that he believed in Nargles, he had been telling Luna the truth, but the thing was…Luna _did_ believe in them and therein lay the problem. He remembered their discussion on the naughtiness of Nargles the day they had lunch at Dino Italia. Nargles had done terrible things to Luna in the past. They hid her shoes, they took her things, and they made people's heads go fuzzy (or was that Wrackspurts?) He also remembered that Luna had said that all forms of Christmas greenery (pine, evergreen, mistletoe and holly) were notorious for Nargle infestations. So he was fairly positive that Luna's worsening mood had something to do with the fear that Nargles were about to infest the Burrow. As he expected, Luna pulled his mother aside after dinner.

"Mrs. Weasley," Luna smiled brightly "if you'll tell me where you have some spare butterbeer corks, I would be happy to make a few Nargle charms to put up."

George turned quickly and cautioned the others with his eyes to keep their comments to themselves… thankfully, he and Ginny had already warned their parents that this was coming.

"Oh…" Molly spluttered around a bit. "You know, we don't usually use this much evergreen, I don't think we saved any corks this year."

"Oh, I see." Luna worked up a smile and turned to help Hermione dry the dishes. "It's okay, I'm sure things will be just fine without them."

George shot Ginny a look, Ginny shrugged and looked back, unsure what to do … then she remembered.

"Luna, didn't you have a jar of corks back at your flat?"

"Well, yes I do… but…"

"Couldn't you use those?"

"I could, but I can't apparate myself, I'm not of age yet…and I don't want to pull anyone away…"

George rolled his eyes, tossed down the dishrag and snatched Luna's cloak off the hook. This whole self-sacrificing thing with her was getting a little tiresome. If they were going to be together, Luna needed to learn to accept people doing things for her.

"Come on." He said, pulling her out the door and into the night where it had just started to snow.

"George!" Luna pulled the cloak out of his hands and slid her arms into it. "What's wrong with you?"

"You." He put an arm around her middle and began to twist. "You're wrong with me."

They landed a moment later on the cobblestone sidewalk in Diagon Alley. It had been snowing longer there and a thick blanket already covered the sidewalk. Realizing he would have to set Harry and Ron to removing snow again first thing in the morning was not doing much to improve his mood. The two were getting ready to revolt as it was.

"George, what's wrong?" Luna looked close to tears, normally, George would have felt chagrined with himself for making a girl cry, but he was coming to realize that there was something off about Luna. Something about her was not jibbing with the Luna of his memories, few of them that there were. He had barely known her back then, all he knew was Luna at a glance, but what he did remember was a girl who was strong and tough, she did not take crap from anybody … and, she spoke her mind.

It was perfectly normal for people to be changed by war. Luna had been through terrible things and that was bound to make people different… more afraid, more delicate. Luna was too afraid, she was too delicate, and she was far too worried about pleasing others.

But this was neither the time, nor the place. The streets were crowded with Sunday shoppers, George was one of the few shopkeepers who still closed his doors on Sunday's this close to Christmas. He might have opened too … if not for the fact that he had wanted to spend the day with Luna.

It made him even more irritated with her.

"Nothing." He faked a smile that she did not buy and went for the stairs. "Let's get those corks, the others will be waiting on us."

Luna looked after him dejectedly, and then followed him up the stairs, brushing past him on the top three. She pasted her own fake smile on, and then turned to him. "You don't have to come in; I'll only be a minute."

The truth was she did not want George to see just how pathetically she had been planning to spend the holidays. She was embarrassed now by the pitiful little evergreen branch in the old jar, particularly compared with the lovely tree Ginny and the others had found. It was not just sad … it was pathetic… but the tree wasn't the very worst thing.

George realized of course that if Luna did not want him to come inside, there had to be a reason.

"Hiding something?" He stepped past her into the dark room. Luna didn't turn on the lights in the hopes that George would not see the most pathetic part of Luna's discarded Christmas…the thing that hung on the small chandelier in the sitting room.

"George, why are you angry with me?" Luna kept her eyes downward, determined that he would not look up…even if she had to point out her makeshift tree in a jar.

"Because, I am." He stood against the dark mantle, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Good argument." Luna rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen, coming back a moment later with the jar of corks. "Okay, we can go now."

George's eyebrow quirked up. "Why don't you want me here?"

"Don't be silly, of course I want you here." Luna attempted, and failed badly, to lie.

"What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"George…" Luna sighed in exasperation, ready to do the utterly Japanese thing and throw herself on her own sword … at least, the least sharp of her two swords.

"Fine." She moved and pointed at her make shift Christmas tree.

"You see now? Ginny and Hermione saw it when they were here the other day and they ended up feeling sorry for me. I … I didn't want you feeling sorry for me too."

George's lips quirked up into a grin. "You really do like pathetic little Christmas trees, don't you?"

"It's not even a tree; it's a branch I found on the ground." Luna gave a small, false little laugh. "I could have had the whole thing. I could have gone all out and decorated like your family… I just didn't see the point."

"Like hanging mistletoe that will never be used?" He nodded at the chandelier; Luna's head shot up guiltily.

"Yeah, I saw it. First thing I noticed really."

"Why?"

"You didn't turn on the lights; I figured there had to be a reason."

Luna sighed and sank down in a chair. "I took it from our garden, to have something here that belonged to my father. He and mum planted it the year they built the house … the year I was born."

"I remember the garden." George nodded. "Mum used to send us to buy some from your father every year."

"It was a lovely garden." Luna smiled sadly, "You must think I am pretty pathetic. Christmas trees that aren't Christmas trees and Mistletoe with no one to kiss."

"Not pathetic, just alone." George shrugged away from the mantle and crossed the room. He took her hands and pulled her until they both stood under the mistletoe. "Besides, you may have had no one to kiss then, but you do now."

Luna smiled up at him nervously; she still had no idea why George had been mad at her when they first left the Burrow. "I thought you were mad at me."

"I got over it." George grinned and pulled her close against his chest.

"Really?"

"Really." He lowered his head and brushed the tip of his nose across hers. So sweet, so tantalizing… so close.

"Mistletoe has that kind of effect on me."

"Maybe we should take it down …" Luna gripped the front of his cloak tight in her fists, he was close…closer than he had been the night in the forest. She felt the slightest whisper of his breath against her lips and her skin burst into goose bumps. "…so we can take it back with us … would be shame to waste it."

George looked deeply into her eyes, a look so intense she couldn't have looked away if she had wanted to.

"It won't be wasted." He whispered, his lips brushed over hers, once, twice, three times… and then they connected. Once again George and Luna were showered in golden sparks… but this time … they weren't from Ginny Weasley's wand.

For the first time in her life, Luna refused to think beyond the moment. She was perfectly happy were she was, there was no where else she needed to be … and no one else she needed to be with. It was her very first kiss, she had never been held like this before, no one had ever touched her face or stroked her hair the way that George was at that very moment.

She had nothing at all to compare it to, but she knew it would never be better than this with anyone else. In those few moments she had made her choice… she would either spend her life with George, or she would spend it alone.

Those were her only two options and she didn't want any others; she didn't need any others.

Unlike Luna, George had been kissed before. He had in fact been kissed plenty. Hell, he had even been kissed by one of Fleur's _Veela_ cousins. But compared to kissing Luna, he might never have been kissed at all. The experience was beyond comprehension. Not as minor as flesh meeting flesh, nor as simple as lips and tongues touching… it was other worldly, a joining of the souls … two separate paths merging into a single shared journey.

There could … _there would_ be no one else for him now. Either he would be with her, or he would be with no one.

He too, had no other options.

George broke the kiss, pulling her even closer to him. The words came to him easily … far too easily. It was too soon and yet it felt like they had been together forever rather than just a few days. He wondered if she was thinking the words just as he was, and if she was, was it as hard for her to hold them back as it was for him?

Neither seemed in any hurry to speak, neither seemed in any hurry to move; if they had not had need of air, perhaps they might not have even breathed.

The moment was too perfect.

"Your family will be worried." Luna spoke at last; her hands had not loosened her grip on his cloak and she made no effort to move away. She was no more willing to let go of him … to let go of the moment … than he was to let go of her.

But it _was_ getting late, and his family _would_ be worried. George started to untangle his hands from her hair, but pulled her close instead and kissed her. Who knew when they would be alone again?

Of course, he was more determined now than ever to arrange for that very thing.

The urge to say the words bubbled up in him again the instant he pulled away and he saw to his pleasure that Luna seemed to be struggling to not say something as well. If history was reliable they were on the same page as usual… even if it was too soon to say the words out loud.

"Wait." George reluctantly let her go, and then reached up for the little red ribbon that Luna had used to tie the Mistletoe to the chandelier "We'll be taking this with us."

"Of course. We should make sure it gets plenty of use." Luna took his hand, slid the jar of corks into the pocket of her cloak and turned towards the door. She stopped for a moment, and then turned back, picking up the evergreen branch in the jar.

"This little guy deserves a Happy Christmas too I think."

"I think you're right." George bent his head and gave her a short, sweet kiss. "Everyone deserves a Happy Christmas.. even puny trees."

* * *

The yard surrounding the Burrow was alive with fluttering light by the time they arrived. Apparently, they had missed Ginny's ceremonious releasing of the Christmas fairies. Now, they clung to every last branch of evergreen garland that surrounded the yard, eaves, and windows. The sight that greeted them inside was even grander. As usual, there was not a single place that Ginny had left bare; the fairies had swarmed to cover the evergreen in those spots as well. George stepped over to the end of the stairwell that lead upstairs and held out Luna's tiny evergreen branch, and then shook the garland attached to the banister. A handful of fairies took flight for a brief moment, then landed on the small branch George held and brining it to life with sparkling light.

Luna smiled at him, her eyes soft and full of longing. George wished more than anything that they were alone again and had just begun plotting ways to arrange it when a happy cry from the other room made Luna turn away.

"George, Luna!" Molly came towards them, her hands full of tinsel "There you two are! I was starting to worry."

"Luna … err…" George foundered for an convenient excuse. He could hardly tell his mother the real reason they had taken so long.

"I couldn't find the lid for the jar..." Luna stepped in smoothly "…And then of course, George was curious, so I had to give him a tour of my flat … not that there is all that much to see."

"Yes she did." George gave Luna a grateful look. It wasn't often that he had difficulty coming up with excuses, but when he did he seemed to do it with such remarkable talent that he made up for lost time. "Look mum, Luna had a sprig of Mistletoe."

George realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth. He should have said that they had picked it up from the street vendor … or something…anything else. Anything but blabbing out Luna's secret to his mother.

"Yes." Luna smiled serenely, not minding in the least what George had just let slip. "It came from my father's garden. I wanted to have a part of him with me."

"Of course dear." Molly patted Luna's cheek. She of all people understood; she too had been clinging to every tiny piece of Fred she could find. "Of course I understand, and that is why we will need to find a special place for this."

Molly crossed her arms and spun in a slow circle, scrutinizing every last nook and cranny for the perfect place for Luna's mistletoe. There were four doorways that lead into the kitchen; one of them would be perfect.

"Ah yes …" She smiled and pointed to the one she knew drew the heaviest traffic. "This one George. Put it here."

George slid the jar with the evergreen branch on the top of the kitchen mantle … it seemed a nice place for it … and took the mistletoe from Luna. Their eyes met for only a moment, but it was enough to make Luna's mind flash back onto wonderful memories only moments old. A delicate blush stained her cheeks while she watched George tie the sprig of mistletoe into place in the entry between the kitchen and the sitting room. It was sure to get a lot of use there.

George, on the other hand, didn't need mistletoe.

"So, we should get busy with those Nargle charms." He turned back to Luna, his eyes sparkling with the promise of mischief. "You said the corks need to be purified in snow first?"

Luna looked at him, confused for a moment. She had never said any such thing. In fact, the corks needed to be very warm for the charm to take hold… Nargles liked the cold, that was why they were so partial to evergreen.

"We better get busy." He took her hand and pulled her back out the door, then around to the side of the house where it was dark enough that they wouldn't be seen.

"George, you can't put the corks in the snow … Nargles like the cold."

"Oh." He said simply, wrapping his arms around her and backing her up against the back of the house. "Guess we better not put them in the snow then."

"But then why did you …"

"Luna," George bent his head and brushed his lips over hers. "You are going to have to work with me here."

Luna giggled "You are going to have to cut me some slack, I am not used to all this clandestine, cloak and dagger, sneaking around business."

"We don't have to sneak around." George shrugged. "It's not like we have anything to be ashamed of. I could go back in right now and tell them that I dragged you out here because I had an overwhelming need to snog you … again. Of course, it would mean confessing that we had already been snogging in your flat. All alone, with no parental supervision …"

Luna giggled and stood on her tip toes, pulling his head down to hers. His kiss was as sweet as she remembered, but even better … this time she wasn't nervous, and this time … it felt even more right.

They parted and George took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The words were there again … the words that it was far too soon to feel, much less to say. Yet he had to say something. He felt as though his feelings would eat him alive if he kept them inside. He had to tell her, she had to know … and he had to know if she felt the same.

"I could tell them that I never want to kiss anyone else ever again."

Luna smiled and a small trace of tears broke from the corner of her eyes. "I've never kissed anyone but you, and I don't want to."

George knew that he was smiling like an idiot, that if the others saw him they would never let him hear the end of it. A part of him didn't care, but another part wanted to keep it just between them. He knew eventually they would have to know and he _wanted_ them to know. Someday, he would climb to the roof, stand at the very top of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and yell it out for all of Diagon Alley to hear… but not now, not when it was still new. He wanted to keep it close; he wanted to keep it private.

"Do you want to tell them?" He had to ask, it was new to Luna too, and maybe she wanted to share.

"Part of me does. I've never had this before; it's so new and exciting."

"If that's what you want …"

"That's just it, part of me doesn't too." She laughed up at him, her eyes sparkling. "Does that make any sense?"

"It makes perfect sense."

"You know they are going to tease us as it is about the mistletoe, and really, they would have to be pretty dim to not figure it out on their own anyway. I imagine I must look pretty sappy when I look at you. At the very least, I know I will now."

George shook with laughter; Luna had just made a pretty damned good point. He had to be looking pretty sappy himself these days, probably had been since coming back with her from Diagon Alley the very first night.

"Me too."

Luna sighed and lifted her face to the falling snow. The flakes had been small when they left Diagon Alley, now they were increasing in size again. It was the way George enjoyed seeing her most, her hair laced with snow with flakes fluttering on her eyelashes… when the snow made her look like an angel.

"You realize of course, this is pretty much a moot discussion." She said simply. "They already know something is going on."

"Of course they do." George leaned down and kissed her again. He had to do it while he could after all, they had been gone way too long, and someone would be coming to check on them soon.

"They don't need to know everything though." He pulled away and took her hand, then kicked a few holes in the snow bank near the house to make it look as if they had been purifying butterbeer corks. It was pretty much a useless attempt, but hell, he had to at least try.

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Chapter Seven Preview

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Private thoughts

cause Luna to panic, can George break through her fears…

or will she walk away?

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	7. Flight

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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SnowAngels

Chapter Seven

Flight

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George and Luna were greeted by a circle of grins when they returned to the house. Not for the first time in his life, George lamented the fact that he and Fred had not been born into a family where they were the only children.

"Did you get the corks all purified?" Ron said with a caustic smirk in George's direction while he helped Luna remove her cloak.

"Yes we did." George pulled the snow covered jar of corks from his pocket and set them on the table. Despite Luna's protests, he had insisted on dropping them into the snow as a cover, conceding only that they would leave them in the jar. Luna apparently, was much less annoyed by Nargles than she was by being teased by Ron and the others.

Luna decided to ignore the exchange completely. She sat at the table and opened the jar of corks, poured them out and began to sort them into piles according to size and color. George finished hanging their cloaks and then sat next to her. Luna smiled at him and showed him how to sort them.

"Shut up Ron." Ginny hit him with a nasty elbow as she passed. "Leave them alone."

Luna looked up in surprise. Ginny had been teasing them as much as any of the others; what could have brought on this shift?

"Would you like some more help?" Ginny pulled out the chair across from them and pulled a pile of unsorted corks towards her. Ginny was an old pro at making Nargle charms, she had helped Luna make them the last three years, even though she didn't believe in them either.

"Thank you, that would be nice."

Luna looked up in time to see George and Ginny exchange a look that seemed very much like gratitude.

"I could help too." Harry pulled out the chair next to Ginny's "If you show me what to do."

Luna opened her mouth to answer, but she was slowed when Hermione and Ron joined as well.

"Aren't you decorating the Christmas tree?" George asked suspiciously, his eyes on Ron.

"It's almost done." Ron shrugged. "Let the others finish it."

"You don't have to help." Luna smiled around at them" I know you think this is silly, I am sure there must be about a hundred other things you would rather be doing."

Ginny shrugged "Can't think of any off hand."

"Me either." George smiled at her and Luna felt a foot slide up along side hers under the table and then gently caress her toes. Her arms burst out into a riot of goose bumps and Luna was incredibly thankful that she was wearing long sleeves.

Despite his words, the look in his eyes was clear … there _was_ _one thing _he would rather be doing… not that he could do it in front of his family.

Luna felt as though she had entered a whole new world in the past few days. She had never experienced a life like this, being around a big family, planning a big family Christmas…not to mention falling in …

No, she couldn't even think the words. They were too huge, too full of meaning, too all encompassing. Even if she did feel them, or at the very least, something very much like them…saying…even thinking them was just too audacious.

Even for Loony Lovegood.

If she was completely honest with herself, and it seemed as if she had no choice but to be now, she was scared to death of how she felt about George Weasley.

It was strange, being this afraid of something that, on the surface at least, wasn't frightening at all. _On the surface at least _… therein lay the problem. She wasn't afraid because of what she could see, she was afraid because of what she _couldn't_ see…and what she couldn't see was how he felt about her.

How he _really_ felt about her.

George had said that he never wanted to kiss anyone else ever again… but how could she be sure? How could she know that this wasn't some passing whim? How could she know that his feelings for her weren't some momentary thing brought on by the season; that they wouldn't fade away like the sparkle of the wings from the Christmas fairies in the evergreen? When Christmas ended evergreen became old and died and the fairies went away … when Christmas ended and she went back to Hogwarts; would what George felt for her go away as well?

Really, what did she know about George Weasley? Maybe he brought a new girl home every Christmas, maybe he bought them all expensive gifts and had told them all they were the only girl he ever wanted to kiss again.

Maybe… maybe she wasn't special at all.

Something terrible and fearful clenched in Luna's throat. She felt sick, like at any moment … if she so much as dared to look up … she might vomit.

"I think I need to go to bed." She said, standing abruptly and refusing to meet anyone's eyes … George's eyes in particular.

"Luna?" He stood and took her hand, not caring in the least if the others were watching. He didn't like the look on her face, Luna was afraid of something… she was _very _afraid of something.

"I don't seem to be feeling very well." She pulled her hand from his, doing her best to not seem obvious. "I think I spent too much time in the cold tonight… it effects me badly sometimes. I should go to bed, I'm sorry."

Ginny rose from the table, a look of concern on her face. "I'll walk you up."

"No, really…" Luna tried, and failed, to work up a smile. She looked at George for the briefest of seconds, her face in abject misery, so much so that it left him shocked.

"I wouldn't want to spoil your fun. I'll be fine."

It took all of her restraint to go up the stairs rather than to follow her urge and run for the door.

"What do you suppose brought that on?" Ron asked with a bewildered look, his eyes still on the stairs.

"Luna's always been … flighty." Hermione looked at George nervously. His emotions had been tied so tightly to Luna since her arrival; she worried about how George would react to whatever it was that had just happened. She wasn't the only one.

"George, maybe you should try talking to her." Ginny suggested.

George was barely able to think, much less comprehend what the others were saying. He had no idea what, but something had just gone seriously wrong. He didn't have the slightest idea _what_ it was about, but he knew it had something to do with him; or rather, it had something to do with _them_.

"George?" Hermione touched his hand where it still lamely held a handful of Luna's butterbeer corks. "Ginny is right, you should go … go and talk to her."

George nodded mutely and then rose from his chair. He took the stairs slowly and then stopped and stared at her door. He had no idea what he was facing on the other side; how could he when he had no idea what had frightened her in the first place?

Was it him? Had he moved too fast, was she upset because he didn't want to tell his family about them yet? He had thought that she had understood. The more he thought the more he realized that it couldn't be that, Luna had been fine when they came back into the house.

George took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Standing there on the landing with his conjectures about what may or may not have been the reason for Luna's upset wasn't doing anything to resolve the problem. He needed to face it head on; he needed to talk to her.

"Luna?" He knocked softly on the door, not at all surprised when his knock went ignored. He was fairly sure that it had something to do with him, even though he had no idea what that reason may be.

"Luna, please talk to me. If I did something, let me make it right."

George realized then that she wasn't about to answer the door…not under her own power anyway. Thankful for the fact that his parent's had never allowed locks on the bedroom doors he reached for the knob, twisted it, and then swung open the door.

"Luna, will you please …"

He stopped dead halfway into the room. Luna and all of her things were gone; the only evidence of her ever having been there at all was the open bedroom window.

* * *

Luna trudged through the growing snow drifts, her temptation to apparate growing with each step. If not for the fact that she was unsure about her ability she would have gone back to her flat in Diagon Alley.

Truth was, she was feeling more than a little silly about her hasty departure from the Burrow and even sillier about her fit of panic. She had no reason whatsoever to doubt George, in fact it was the exact opposite, and she had every reason to trust him.

Unfortunately for her, she hadn't realized this until she was closer to the rubble of her former home than she was to the Burrow. The snow was picking up and she needed fire and shelter before she froze to death.

Luna came to the bottom of yet another hill, but at the top of this one lay the ruins of the formerly rook shaped house that had been her home for sixteen years. It was a dark, sad blot on the blue-silver snow covered landscape, yet Luna felt an odd sort of peace when she looked at it. This lonely, shattered place was steeped in happy memories of her life with her mother and father. It may be rubble now, but Luna loved it still.

Not minding the snow, Luna made short work of climbing the hill that lead to the top, gathering bits of wood as she went. She knew from previous visits here that most of the lower floor remained, including the old stone hearth and fireplace. Surely George or one of the others would see that she had gone and come after her before long. It would be terrible, admitting to George why she had run off, but she knew that he would understand. He would be hurt that she had doubted him, that she had thought the things she had, but he would understand.

George always understood…that was why she…

No, it was still too soon, much too soon for that.

"_Lumos" _Her wand tip lit up the night around her, illuminating what remained of the front door. Luna pushed it open, ducking when some bits of wood and stone rained down around her from the shattered ceiling above. The room was no longer completely closed in, here and there snow lay in piles, but the west side of the room was still closed off and that was where the fireplace was.

"_Winguardium Leviosa" _Planks of wood, bits of stone and scatterings of paper all flew away from the hearth as Luna waved her wand over the west edge of the room. It wouldn't matter if the chimney was clear; there were enough holes in the ceiling to funnel out the smoke.

Luna piled the wood she had gathered in the stone fireplace, adding in some broken bits and pieces that lay along the stone floor, then cast _incendio_…setting the wood ablaze. A further search found several blankets and the best find of all… laying askew and tipped on its side was her father's favorite chair. She righted it, blew it as clean as she could with her wand and then pulled it next to the fire.

It was only a matter of time she knew, before George would come demanding answers. She was ready to give them to him… to admit that she had been silly and stupid and had thought the very worst of him. But for now, just for the few moments that she had in this place of wonderful memories, she wanted to remember and so, she closed her eyes.

In her memories, her eyes moved to the fireplace where a warm fire crackled, next to the fireplace stood a dazzling a Christmas tree. It was amazingly sparse, the very worst tree in the whole forest per her mothers tradition. It was covered in popcorn and cranberries and so many fairies and Nargle charms that there wasn't room for ornaments. A bright array of boxes and bows lay stacked underneath in piles so high that when Luna was young, she could have gotten lost in them.

The mantle was covered in red velvet, beneath it golden tinsel sparkled. Three stockings hung side by side, with Luna's … the largest of all … hanging in the middle between her father and mothers.

And behind her closed eyes… they were there too…her mother and father. Her father sat in his chair smoking his pipe, the sweet smell of cherry tobacco drifting through the room. Her mother fussed with the bow in Luna's hair, making sure it was tied just right before they all went to visit her muggle born grandfather. It was Luna's perfect world, a world where she had everything and everyone she had ever wanted.

A world where she hadn't had to invade another family's Christmas…she had her own.

Luna abruptly opened her eyes, her parents, the mantle and the tree vanished. It had all been an illusion…this empty destroyed place was all she had, the only things she had left in this world. It struck her then, with blatant and horrible clarity, just how alone she truly was.

"I don't have anything left." She whispered to the empty room, her lips trembling. "I'm all alone."

Luna pulled her knees up under her chin, burying her face as the sobs over took her. She had always thought it was a silly exaggeration when people talked about being so sad they wished they could die … but now she realized that she didn't feel that far off from it herself.

She lifted her head, realizing just how dangerous her thoughts had become. This was a road she wasn't going to go down…not in a million years. She had dropped her bag next to the chair and she reached into it now for a handkerchief. Instead, her fingers wrapped around something hard, sharp, and cold…an ice skate…an ice skate, she knew without seeing, that had a golden blade.

Luna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. She was wrong… she was so very, very wrong. How was it possible? How was it possible that twice in one night… she could have been _so fucking wrong_?

She stood and spun from her chair, knocking it back on its side in the process. A loud nearly manic bubble of laughter escaped Luna as she stuffed the skate back in the bag; she spun around again…and came face to face with George.

"I'm glad one of us thinks this is funny." He stood framed in the dark doorway, even with his face partially obscured by darkness, even though she couldn't even see his eyes, Luna could see that he was upset. Guilt crept up her spine as she realized that she was the one to blame.

"George." She paused, unsure how to go on. A simple apology seemed so inadequate, yet anything else would cheapen it and seem phony. "I don't know what to say."

"I'm stupid?" George shouldered off the doorway and walked into the light. "I'm selfish maybe? I'm out of my fucking mind?"

"You are angry."

"Oh...yeah, that about sums it up." George laughed bitterly, his face twisted into a painful grimace. "How could you just leave like that? After everything that happened; didn't it mean anything to you?"

"It meant _everything_ to me."

"Then how could you just leave like that? No note, no … nothing. You didn't even say goodbye."

"George…" Luna dropped her bag on the floor, righted the chair once again and sat, her face buried in her hands. "I've never done this before. Before today, I'd never even kissed anyone. We were sitting there talking and it just hit me… how new it all was, how unfamiliar. Then I started to wonder if …" She looked up at him, ashamed to admit the rest. "If maybe it was a little bit _more_ familiar for you."

George looked at her blankly for a minute, then her words truly sunk in and anger filled in the blankness. "You think I do this all the time? Is that it? That this is … what … some _fucking Christmas tradition_?"

"I didn't know what to think." She looked at him, trying desperately to catch his eyes, to communicate through them what she didn't seem to be able to with her words. "George… you don't know what this is like for me. One minute I am just … just Loony Lovegood, resident Hogwarts nutter, and the next George Weasley is kissing me and saying that I am the only person he ever wants to kiss again. It's confusing, and surreal and… and… a whole lot of things that I am not used to having happen to me!"

George wanted desperately to understand, but the truth was he felt betrayed. How could Luna have not trusted in him, how could she have ever thought that what had passed between them was something he did on a whim?

"George, since my mum died, there has only been one person that I have ever trusted. I know you don't remember me well from school, but you know enough to know that there is a good reason for that. I've learned to be careful, very, very careful." She looked into his cold, hurt eyes "Obviously too careful."

Luna felt despair well up within her again. She had had her chance, and she had ruined it. There was no going back now.

"I don't have any right to ask, but could you apparate me back to Diagon Alley? If you don't want to, it's okay, I understand."

George rolled his eyes.

"I just mean … I would never dream of staying with your family now… considering…"

"Considering what exactly?" His eyes narrowed into a look that Luna found shockingly sexy, considering how angry she knew he was.

"Considering how things ended between us."

"Who says things ended between us?"

"I thought…"

"You need to stop thinking so damn much." George stomped over and took her hand in his, then tossed her bag over his shoulder. "Just because you don't trust me, it doesn't mean things are over. It just means I have to figure out how to make you trust me."

Luna stopped and stared at him indignantly, her silvery eyes flashing angrily. "I never said I didn't trust you!"

"As good as."

"Okay fine, whatever. Just take me back to Diagon Alley and…"

George shook his head. "How the hell am I supposed to earn your trust if you are in Diagon Alley?"

"Wait…" Luna put her hand on his arm to stop him. She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "You still want me to spend Christmas with your family? With you?"

George dropped her bag on the ground and put his arms around her to hold her close. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't stay angry with her. In a small way, even if he couldn't understand her doubts, he could understand her fears. He had plenty of fear of his own. In a little over a week she would be going back to Hogwarts. Even with him in Hogsmeade, they would only be able to see each other when she was able to come into the village. He was facing a time when he would be without her. But right now, his greatest fear of all was that now that he had finally found the person he had been looking his entire life for; he was going to lose her.

George wasn't going to let her go easily.

"The way I feel hasn't changed Luna, you are the one with doubts." He kissed her softly then brushed his thumb over her cheek. "You are the one who is afraid, not me."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You're afraid I am going to hurt you, it's the same thing."

"No, it's not." Luna shook her head and let it rest on his chest over his heart. The sound of his breathing and the steady heartbeat soothed her nerves and she was finally able to relax. "It's not the same at all."

"You could have fooled me."

"I trust you."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Not."

Luna pulled back and narrowed her eyes at him. "I do so trust you. Stop saying that I don't."

The corners of George's mouth twitched up into a smirk. "Stop acting like you don't trust me and I will quit saying that you don't."

"George!" Luna stamped her foot angrily

"You know, you're cute when you are acting all indignant and angry."

"Urgh!" Luna reached down for her bag. "Would you just take me back already?"

"In a minute." He pulled the bag out of her hands and let it drop on the ground, and then he lowered his face to hers. "I think we need to do a little more making up first."

George didn't give her a chance to respond, but this time, Luna didn't mind a bit. Besides, there were plenty of non-vocal ways of communicating that worked just as well.

Luna was still afraid, scared silly in fact…but not for the same reasons as before. She knew now, trusted now, that this was as new for George as it was for her. He would never hurt her, at least not on purpose. It was the unintentional that Luna feared now. Things happened to people every day, good things, bad things, things that took them away from the ones they loved and who loved them. Between her mother and father, Luna had learned this only too well.

She had learned a lot of things that she wished she didn't. How it felt to be sad and to hurt, how it felt to be a prisoner of war and watch a man suffer horrible torture. She had learned that it was possible to be plunged so deeply into despair that you were on the verge of wishing for death … only to be taken to the peak of euphoria moments later.

Luna had learned the last only moments before; the moment she had realized that even though she believed it to be true; she was never alone. Even in the darkness of night in the ruins of her childhood home; the light had come to her.

George was her light; and he had come for her.

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Chapter Eight Preview

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In the aftermath of Luna's flight,

George and Luna share a special moment, while the Weasley's ... one in particular,

ponder their growing relationship.

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	8. Unexpected

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N Hey All! Hope everyone is having a nice holiday season so far! Updates might be slowing down a little bit after this one...I am getting close now to being down to my last finished chapters...I will be having to write as I post again soon. I have it all pretty much plotted out in my head though, so worry not. Hope you enjoy the chapter and hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great! Thanks for the reviews...that Imperious curse kicks ass!

IMPERIO! _ REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW_

Just a refresher...you know, in case it is starting to slip. :P

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Snow Angels

Chapter Eight

Unexpected

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Luna found it incredibly embarrassing facing the Weasley's after having run off and it was made even worse by the fact that she couldn't explain why. Despite her urges to run and hide in her room…leaving George to come up with an excuse…she stood her ground and sucked it up; citing a need to be alone as her only excuse.

To George's somewhat bemused annoyance, his family … in particular his parents… believed Luna's lie without reservation. Luna's story had more holes in it than a mini baby Swiss and had George tried to pull the same he wouldn't have gotten away with it in a million …no, a trillion years.

It was still early when they returned, only nine o'clock, so they gathered around the table again; there were still all those Nargle charms to make. George grumbled good naturedly about Luna's fib sliding by so easily and cast her mildly annoyed looks that made her giggle when no one was watching. Her skin tingled while his foot caressed hers under the table. It was a silly little gesture, one that would have made Luna laugh had she seen others doing it only days before, but in the aftermath of all that had occurred that day it made her feel happy.

To their surprise the others found that they quite enjoyed making Luna's Nargle charms. Normally, she told them, they were left as plain corks but this year she felt something special was called for. Ginny dragged out a set of seldom used paint and they spent a lovely two hours painting them. They added rosy Santa Claus faces, and silver paint to make them look like bells. Ginny, the best painter of all, covered them in Christmas roses and Poinsettia leaves while Ron painted them to honor the Chudley Cannons and Gryffindor Quidditch team. Hermione painted a row of books with Christmas titles and Harry a set of golden snitches.

George found himself painting the faces of angels while Luna, looking over with a small smile, realized that she had painted their twins. It seemed for them, it was always going to come back around to angels.

Finally, as the night grew late, Luna showed them how to screw the little silver loops carefully into the top and attach tiny strings. Last, they piled all their charms in the middle of the table for Luna to charm.

"_Nargiwaggi!"_

A soft gold glow shot from the end of Luna's wand, whished around the corks and then was sucked into each one. The others stared at one another, shocked and surprised that something had actually happened. They had been expecting the spell to be as invisible as the Nargles themselves.

"Well…" Luna smiled triumphantly "Now all that's left it to hang them."

"Shall we do the ones outside?" George suggested, sorting theirs from the others in the pile. Luna looked up to see the others grinning at them. They knew something was going on between the two. Heck yeah they knew.

"Err, sure." She allowed him to help her into her cloak then with a last look over her shoulder at the others, she followed George out the door.

"Merlins sweaty butt crack they're going out to hang Nargle charms." Ginny giggled and raced Hermione to the kitchen shade to look out. "They are SO running out to snog."

"You think?" Hermione peaked through the shade "Move over Ginny."

"George and Luna Lovegood." Ron sat at the table shaking his head and looking befuddled. "It doesn't make sense does it?"

"Why not?" Harry sat across from him, sorting his and Ginny's corks from the others.

"Luna's a good person, and George seems happier than he has been in a long time. Drat." Hermione turned, a huge grin on her face. "They've gone around to the other side."

"Definitely snogging." Ginny grinned, then turned a glare on her brother. "And don't talk bad about Luna."

"Who's talking bad?" Ron lowered Ginny a nasty look. "They barely know each other, they didn't know each other until a couple days ago. Not really."

"But if she makes him happy, what difference does that make?" Ginny wanted to know. She was angry that Ron seemed to be so against the idea of George being with Luna.

"It is a bit sudden." Harry agreed

"Look who's talking about sudden." Hermione smirked "One minute you were all about Cho the ho, the next you were mooning over Ginny."

Harry grinned and took Ginny's hand. "Can I help it I developed taste overnight?"

Ginny leaned closer, giving Harry a sloppy looking kiss.

"Do you two mind?" Percy came in from the other room en-route to the stairwell "I have to sit there to eat."

Harry and Ginny broke apart, both wearing huge goofy grins.

"You just don't like Luna." Ginny winked at Percy then turned her glare on Ron. "That's what this is really about."

"What?" Ron looked indignant. "I like Luna, very much so in fact."

"Then why don't you want her with George?"

"I never said that! All I said was that it didn't make sense to me."

"It could be taken as your not liking the idea Ron. Not saying that's what you meant." Harry pointed out, wondering why he had bothered to speak at all. The last thing he wanted was to get into the middle of a fight between his best friend and his girlfriend. He knew from experience… that was not a happy place to be…it never ended well…it could even be dangerous.

"I just meant that it seems so unlikely." he shrugged, desperately trying to find the words. "They're so different from each other. George is George…and Luna is…"

"Loony?" Hermione raised an annoyed eyebrow. "I hate it when you call her that. "

"Would you stop putting words in my mouth?" Ron stood angrily "Look at the two of them. Could two people be more different?"

"They're really not that different, they both love to laugh and are quite funny." Ginny pointed out, ignoring the obvious thing they had in common…the pain of loss.

"You know..." Harry grinned and looked back and forth between his two best friends in the world. "George and Luna have much more in common than…oh say… you and Hermione, you two started out hating one another and you seem to have made it work out fine"

"Most of the time anyway. You certainly do fight a lot. But, maybe that's part of the attraction." Percy smirked at his own little bit of wit. It was coming back a little at a time. Ron glared at him and Percy grinned and turned back for the stairs. "Don't mind me, I need to be up early in the morning."

He paused for a moment, his hand on the rail, then he turned back around.

"I can't speak for any of you of course, but as miserable as George has been since summer, I don't care who is responsible or why he is doing better. I am just glad he is. If being together makes them happy…who are any of us to judge? More so, who are any of us to begrudge them that happiness?"

He had expected an answer, a rebuttal from Ron at the very least…he was the one who had brought this all up in the first place. He was greeted with silence instead.

"Well, goodnight."

They were silent for a moment, then Ron let his arms drop to his side. Truth was, he was hurt by their words. He was tired of being second guessed, of always having his words twisted and used against him.

"I never said I didn't like Luna, I never said that I didn't think she and George should be together… only that it was unexpected. Can any one of you say that you're not the least bit surprised by it? If you can you're a liar."

He looked around at them before going to the bottom of the stairs himself.

"Goodnight."

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The house had gone mostly dark by the time George and Luna finished hanging the charms outside. It wasn't a development that George would have been particularly displeased with if not for the fact that he had to be up very early the next day. As it was it was going on midnight by the time they came in, stamping their feet to free them of the snow that was still piling up outside. It seemed mother nature was pushing for a snow fall record this year; it had been snowing everyday for the past five days in a row.

"Oh." Luna sighed as she looked at the pile of yet to be hung Nargle charms on the kitchen table. "They didn't hang them. I wonder why not?"

"Too busy discussing us maybe?" George grinned and helped Luna take off her cloak. "You know they know; I saw Ginny and Hermione run to the window as soon as we walked out."

"Of course they know, was there ever any doubt?" Luna grinned "Well, I can hang these, it won't take long."

George hung their cloaks on the pegs by the door and then reached for a handful of the charms on the table.

"You should go to bed." Luna stopped him with a hand on his arm. "You said you have to be up early."

"It won't take more than a few minutes." He shrugged and picked up the pile of charms before turning to the mantle. He was willing to do anything to squeeze out a few more minutes of this day with Luna; it had been the strangest, most wonderful day of his life.

The worked together in companionable silence, moving from one room to the next. At last they met in the middle … in front of Ginny's enormous Christmas tree. For one reason or another, neither had actually seen it since it had been fully decorated. It was breathtaking, but then it always was. Ginny might be a pain in the ass when it came to getting it done, but once it was complete the results were always worth it. When George reached her side, Luna stood mesmerized, looking up at the tree in awe.

"It's lovely isn't it?" She breathed, her senses dazzled by the stunning beauty that stood inches from her fingers. The smell of pine, one of Luna's favorite in the world, was heavy in the air and the dancing lights from the Christmas fairies reflected off the decorations like a billion stars around her.

"Yes, it is." George reached out and touched a branch, the tree _was_ beautiful, but it wasn't the most beautiful thing in the room. Not that he was corny enough to actually say that out loud. "The final result always makes putting up with Ginny worth it."

"It's hard to believe Christmas Eve is the day after tomorrow." She turned to him and smiled. "I thought this time would go slow, but now it is passing so fast it is almost a blur."

"You were alone before." He took the last four Nargle charms from her, all four angels that had been painted by them, and then hung them on the tree under his mothers antique Goblin made angel. He turned to her and took her hands in his. "You're not anymore."

"I know." Luna smiled at him with soft eyes, a smile so sweet it made his heart long to burst from his chest and dance. _How could he have not seen it before_, he wondered, _how could he have never seen _her_ before?_

It seemed now as if his life had been lived in two parts. Life before the war, and life after the war… or to be more succinct, life with Fred, and life without.

George had been riotously happy in that other life. He had been carefree, he had no wounds, no scars… he lived free of pain. Most importantly, he had lived a life with his twin brother by his side.

In this new life it seemed pain was his constant companion. Scars and wounds ran deep, the perfect partner for his despair. With each passing day he had lost a little more hope that it would ever get better. He had hung on for his family, he had hung on because he knew it was what Fred wanted him to do and because he had made a promise. The thing that was absent was the thing that was the most important of all… hope.

Life after the war, life after Fred… held no hope.

Until the night he had followed a mysterious woman in white down the deserted streets of Diagon Alley. A woman he had thought was an angel… a woman who _was _an angel, if only in his heart.

In this life, he had Luna.

He had been a boy in that former life, filled with selfish desires and crazy dreams. He should have known that it couldn't go on, that it was too simple… too carefree. Fred had known… there was no way they could all come away from the war unscathed. Chances were, one of them would die…the only question really had been who it would be.

In this life, George was a man. He knew his limitations, he knew that life wasn't fair, that people died for no other reason than that simple averages made it glaringly so. If you took ten people and put them in a highly dangerous situation… there is little chance that all will walk away from it.

Life was fragile … and he knew that now…the _man_ knew that now. Carpe Deum… Luna's mother was absolutely right to believe in that. In the end, it didn't matter that he had never seen Luna before… what truly mattered…was that he saw her now.

"You're beautiful." He spoke softly, not wanting anyone else to hear, but wanting to be sure that she did…that she knew where the words were coming from. The very deepest part of his heart…the deepest part of his soul.

Luna's heart thumped madly in her chest. How could this be happening to her? How could she be standing here in the twinkling light of thousands of Christmas fairies with George Weasley… how could he think she was beautiful? She was still Luna Lovegood after all, the girl best known as Loony Lovegood….resident Hogwarts nutter.

"No one has ever told me that before."

"They should have." He twined their fingers tightly together and pulled her closer so that their bodies rested against one another. "They should have told you that a lot."

"Maybe no one else thinks I am."

"Maybe no one else can see you." He brushed her lips with his, leaving his forehead to rest on hers. "Maybe they were stupid for not looking closer."

She was going to explode. That was all the was for it. Surely now one could possibly be this happy without some sort of physical repercussions. Any moment now, her chest would be split in two and her heart would burst forth… there was no way her tiny rib cage could contain so much. How could she have ever doubted him; how could she have ever believed that he could say such things so casually… that anyone could?

"I'm sorry George, for before I mean. I … was foolish."

"Yes, you were. But…" He kissed her again, more firmly this time. He knew that at any moment any wayward member of his family could peak into the room… but he didn't care. This moment was too special, it was too important… it was too _theirs_ to ruin with worry. "…you were afraid; how we react to fear is seldom rational."

"This is all just so … unexpected. I never thought I would …"

There they were again… those words… the words that were so close, yet had no place, not now, not yet.

"I never thought that I would find someone, least of all that you would become so important to me."

"You think I did?" He laughed softly. "All I was doing was trying to escape …I found you instead."

"Walking up and down Diagon Alley like a mad woman in the snow." Luna laughed.

"And looking like an angel." George closed his eyes and the memory came alive. So beautiful, so very, very, beautiful. "My Angel."

"Do you realize George," Luna pulled away and laughed. "How disgustingly schmaltzy this whole thing is becoming?"

"Unfortunately," He grinned sheepishly and pulled back, the brim of his nose tainted pink now. "I am afraid I do realize. It's going to be next to impossible to hide this from my family."

"Because we did so well before." Luna let her hands drop and turned away. It was now very late and she was beginning to feel the emotion of the day taking it's toll on her. Luna yawned widely….she needed a warm bed and a soft pillow…and she needed them now.

"Bedtime." George took her hand and pulled her towards the stairs. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

"It's almost Christmas." Luna sighed "It's sure to be mad."

"For you," George smirked and took her hand as they stepped onto the stairwell. "I'll be in Hogsmeade doing interviews and meeting with the man I hired to renovate the new shop."

An entire day apart…she wasn't fond of that idea in the least.

"Can't I come with you?" Luna stuck her lip out in an exaggerated pout. "I have lots of good idea's you know, Dad always said I am a wonderful decorator."

George turned to her, his hands on either side of the wall by her head, and then leaned in close. "Wonderful idea, but…I actually need to get some work done."

Luna sighed as if she were being horribly put upon…in a way she felt as if she were. A day apart from George felt like the worst thing anyone could do to her. "I suppose if I _have to _stay in Diagon Alley…"

"If you're with me …" George nuzzled her cheek with his nose and whispered in her ear. "…how will I shop for your Christmas present?"

"Oh no!" Luna pushed against him so they were facing one another. "No, no more presents. You already got me one."

"That's not a gift, the skates were a necessity."

"George!" Luna gave him the stubborn you're-not-going-to-win look…George wasn't buying it, not this time.

He kissed her, and then flashed a grin that Luna remembered from the past … it was reminiscent of the grin he and Fred wore the day they exploded a swamp in the fifth floor corridor at Hogwarts. He leaned forward again and then whispered in her ear. "Stop me if you can."

With a devilish wink George turned away and left her standing on the stairwell.

"Oh…just…just lovely." Luna whispered in annoyance. "You are _so not _going to get away with this George Weasley."

Mildly fuming, Luna went up the remaining stairs, still glaring at the dark stairs above. George was up there, just a above where she stood now…and she was pretty sure she could hear him laughing at her. If not for the fact that she had been raised better, Luna would have loved to follow him, to bang on the bedroom door, and then make it perfectly clear that their discussion was far from over. As much as she hated it at the moment…she _had _been raised better, there was no getting around it.

Luna stepped into the dark bedroom and used her wand to light the lamps. She stood still, her head tilted towards the ceiling to see if she could hear anything through the floorboards from the bedroom above hers. Once again, she was fairly sure she heard laughing.

"Urgh." Luna tossed her wand on the table in irritation and pulled the blankets back on the bed. She pulled her nightgown out of her bag, tossing her dirty clothes atop it and sliding into the soft flannel gown, and then slid between the crisp cotton sheets.

If Luna knew one thing about George Weasley it was that he was going to do whatever he wanted, no matter how frustrated she got with him… and so trying to talk him out of it would be an exercise in futility…but that didn't mean she had to like it. It wasn't that she didn't think it was sweet, and she was totally charmed…it was just a bit overwhelming. Luna wasn't used to so much attention…and George had been giving her nothing but attention since the moment they had run across one another in Diagon Alley. Obviously though, it was something she needed to get used to.

Luna sighed and rolled over to stare out the window. If the past was any indication, whatever he got her was sure to be extravagant. There was no stopping that either.

Maybe though… just maybe… she could beat him at his own game. Her lips curved into a smile and she rolled over to stare out the window at the falling snow…her mind flooding with plans for sweet retribution.

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Chapter Nine Preview

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George and Luna

endure the most wonderful part of the season...

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

But what do you get for that special

someone for whom you want to give everything

they've ever dreamed of?

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	9. A Day Apart

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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Snow Angels

Chapter Nine

A Day Apart

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Luna wasn't surprised to find that George had already left by the time she joined the others downstairs for breakfast the next morning. He had interviews to do and plans to have drawn up for the new shop…he had said so the night before. Luna was perfectly willing to let the others believe that but she knew the truth…George wasn't at breakfast because he was being a bloody damned coward. He didn't want to give her a chance to restart their discussion from the night before and even more so, he didn't want to give her the chance to win.

Luna rolled her eyes as she stared into her plate of French toast, a small grin playing about her lips. She could tell herself she was mad at him all she wanted to… but the truth was, what George was doing was the sweetest thing anyone had done for her in a long, long time. That was _exactly_ why what she had to do today was so important; she needed to find something, some token, to show George how much he meant to her.

It wasn't about paybacks, not really, at least not deep down. The rest … well, that was just part of what made being around George so enjoyable. He thrilled and exasperated her, he challenged and overwhelmed her… he annoyed her and made her feel like she could spend the rest of her life staring into his eyes and not notice a second of the passage of time…and she felt all of this in a single breath.

Even if it was too soon to even think the words, it was impossible to deny that they existed. Eventually they would come out, it was only a matter of time.

Luna had only a small window to find George's gift. The next day was Christmas Eve and she had already promised that she would help in the shop. The day promised to be a busy one and George would need every available hand; besides, he would be in Diagon Alley, not in Hogsmeade as he had been so often lately. She would never be able to sneak out right under his nose; he would ask too many questions. In fact, if she timed it right, she could shop during her lunch break. They always lunched in twos and with George gone, she had a perfect excuse to get away alone.

Diagon Alley was a flurry of activity that morning. Every shop had put on it's best face, street hawkers stood on every corner selling everything from Goblin made jewelry to love potions. The smell of roasting chestnuts was heavy on the air, a smell so wonderful that Luna could have stood there all day just breathing it in. It was her second favorite scent in the world, the only thing better was the scent of her fathers pipe tobacco and the cedar and gunpowder scent that lingered around George.

Ginny, Hermione and Luna stocked shelves while Harry and Ron, grumbling all the way, went about clearing the side walk. The day was overcast and gave all the signs that even more snow was on it's way, to Ron and Harry at least, it made no sense to clear it when it was just going to get full again.

"Do you think George would find out if we didn't wear those ridiculous costumes?" Hermione gave a disdainful sniff towards the garment bags that hung on hooks towards the back.

"Of course he will find out." Ginny looked none too pleased about wearing the costume either, but she had grown up with George, she knew better than to try to pull one over on him. "George always finds out."

Luna agreed silently, he had found out about the skates after all.

"At least you're getting paid well for it." She offered, turning away from the shelf and tossing her empty box into the pile. "Just think about the money when you feel embarrassed."

"Is that what you do?" Hermione grinned "Or is it enough for you that you are doing it for George?"

Luna, somewhat used to their teasing now, ignored the last. "What money?"

"He is paying you isn't he?" Ginny stepped down from the ladder where she had been stocking Weasley's Best All Day Sneezing Powder.

"No, he's not actually." Luna shrugged, picked up another box and then used her wand to open it. "He paid for my new ice skates, as far as I am concerned, we are even."

Luna winced, she hadn't meant to let that slip.

"He paid for your skates?" Hermione smiled widely

"Of course silly," Luna attempted to laugh but it came out as a mad sounding crackle "It's not like I went to Sweden myself."

"He went to Sweden?" Ginny's eyes were huge. "To buy you ice skates? Merlin's fat hairy arse, he does have it bad."

Luna turned away, blushing madly now. She hated it when she got nervous, she often let things fly out of her mouth without thinking when she got rattled.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about." Hermione put her hand on Luna's shoulder, urging her to turn around. "It's sweet that he did that. I wouldn't have expected it of George."

"Why not?"

"George has always been…" Ginny moved her head from side to side, struggling to come up with the right words to describe her brother. She had known him to be so many things; warm and funny, sweet and caring…but a romantic…the kind of guy who would go to Sweden to buy a girl a pair of ice skates…never. In fact, George had never shown enough interest to so much as buy a girl a stick of gum before. "…indifferent when it comes to girls. "

"I don't understand. You don't mean he's…"

"Oh heaven's no! It's nothing like that." Hermione laughed "He likes girl's. There has just never been one that has held his interest for long."

"You think I am different?"

Hermione and Ginny looked at one another and cracked up. Despite her odd beliefs, Luna was one of the smartest people they knew, she was a Ravenclaw for crying out loud. How could she possibly be so dim about this? But then, she couldn't see what they could. She couldn't see the way George looked at her, they way his eyes followed her every move, the way his body shifted when hers did. It had only been four days, but George and Luna were already so attuned to one another they interacted in the same silent manner as Ginny's parents…and they had been married twenty eight years.

"I _know _you are different." Ginny grinned and went back to her ladder.

Luna realized that she was grinning all over herself, she had to look totally goofy at the moment…and then she realized something else…she and George were supposed to be a secret.

"It doesn't mean anything is going on you know." She attempted, badly, to cover up. "Were just … very good friends, that's all."

Hermione and Ginny didn't stop laughing the rest of the morning.

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George looked up at the ever-grey sky; it was starting to look as if the snow was going to stop soon and he hoped that Harry and Ron were doing a good job keeping the side walk cleared. The morning had been remarkably productive, he had hired both new managers within an hour of each other and the plans for the new shop had been drawn up. He would need to look them over and make changes that night and then owl them off first thing in the morning. It would leave him free to work in the Diagon Alley shop all day…good thing too, it was sure to be as mad tomorrow as it had been the last two weeks put together. Not for the first time, he was thankful to have finished his Christmas shopping weeks before…or rather, most of it. There was one last minute gift he needed to exchange, one that he hadn't realized weeks ago that he would need.

George pulled his collar up and tightened his scarf before stepping outside the shop that would soon be known as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He smiled as he crossed the snow covered street, thinking about how much Fred would have loved opening the second shop, even though it meant their no longer working side by side. They had never decided who would be running which shop but George had hoped for the one in Hogsmeade. He had always loved the little village, the only wizard only village still in existence.

He had already decided that he would move there after the first of the year, his focus would be shifting to Hogsmeade, both managers would be working under Ron and Hermione while they learned the business so George could oversee the work in the new shop. There was a little tiny house behind the shop where the old owner had lived; George had taken ownership of that as well but that too was in bad shape from being closed for so long. He would need to spend some time here after Christmas seeing that it was put right.

George was sure he could talk Luna into helping him; if nothing else it would guarantee some time alone together before she had to return to school.

He reached the other side of the street, firmly putting the thought of Luna's return to school out of his mind. It was a week away; he would deal with it then. In the mean time, he wasn't going to ruin his holiday with unhappy thoughts.

George continued down the sidewalk, nodding to familiar and not familiar faces as he passed. He paused at the door of the Three Broomsticks, a nearly overpowering craving for a mug of hot butterbeer came over him but he shook himself and continued on his way. If he took the time for that, it would delay his return to Diagon Alley and he was hoping to return before they closed the shop.

At last he came to the small mahogany door of the little jewelers shop at the end of the street. A small heavy woman was just leaving and he held the door for her as she bustled through.

"Well George Weasley!" She smiled up at him, George realized it was Professor Sprout. "I'd heard a rumor you were starting a new shop in Hogsmeade!"

"Professor, it's nice to see again." It truly was, Herbology had always been a favorite class for him and Fred…there was so much mischief that could be had with plants.

"You too Weasley, you too!" She patted him on the arm and adjusted her packages. "Headmaster McGonagall and some of the others are waiting me at the Three Broomsticks, would you care to join us?"

George grinned, he truly would have loved to sit down for a butterbeer with some of his old teachers now that they were on equal ground, so to speak… he could say whatever he wanted to them now and they couldn't give him detention. That would have to wait for another day.

"I would love to professor, but maybe another time. I need to get back to the shop in Diagon Alley. Busy time of the year."

"Of course, of course." She smiled and moved past him. "Well once you're all settled in perhaps you could come for a visit."

"Certainly." _Particularly if it means a chance to see Luna. _"Happy Christmas" He nodded and then opened the door and stepped inside.

George had always loved this little shop and had bought several little baubles for his mother and sister here. The Friday before he had come in looking for some little thing to give Luna and he had come across a lovely little locket with an etched angel on the front. Had nearly bought it, but things had been different between them then. A locket was far too personal a thing to give someone who was just a friend. Instead, had walked away with an insignificant little pin.

There was nothing insignificant about his feelings for Luna …not anymore, and so he had come to return the pin and buy the angel locket instead.

"Hello Mr. Perry." George stepped up to the counter, pulling off his hat and scarf with one hand and extricating the box in his pocket with the other.

"Hello George." The elderly man stood behind the counter wearing red robes, his thick white hair was worn in a neat center part and his deep blue eyes glittered with holiday spirit behind his square glasses. George had always thought that if he weighed two hundred pounds more, he could have easily passed for Santa Claus. "Is there a problem with the pin?"

"Yes and no." He set the box on the counter and pulled off his gloves. "It's fine really, but I decided it isn't really the right gift. I was wondering if I could return it and buy something else."

"Certainly, did you have something else in mind?"

George moved down the counter a short ways, to where he had seen the locket. It was gone, replaced by a men's pocket watch on a gold chain.

"You had a silver locket, with an angel on the front." He asked hopefully; maybe it had just been moved.

"Ah yes, lovely locket that was." He shook his head. "I'm afraid I sold it, same day you came in."

"Do you have another?" he knew the chances were small, less than zero probably, but he had to at least try. "Or maybe something like it?"

"I have some other lockets." He nodded George down to the other side of the shop. "A few with Christmas Fairies. Maybe one of those will do?"

George followed Mr. Perry to the other side, hoping beyond anything that one of the others would be nice. His heart fell when he took in the selection. They were nice, some very pretty, one even had a fairy laying in a mass of poinsettias that reminded George of Luna's poinsettia pin…but they were all too fairy like. He wanted an angel.

"No." George smiled sadly. "Thank you though."

"Would you still like to return the pin?" Mr. Perry moved towards the register "Perhaps at GeneralWizard Silversmith, in Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, thank you." George reached in his pocket for his wallet where he had kept the receipt. "Ill try there."

His eyes wandered while Mr. Perry filled out the form for the return, regretting not having bought the locket… it would have been so perfect. Then, in a display of silver engagement rings, a flash of red caught his eye. He looked back and found a tray with several small silver rings, the band on each was unique. They were flat rather than rounded, etched with different patterns and set with a variance of small stones. Some blue topaz, some sapphire, some emerald, and the one that had caught his eye, a stunning garnet set in a band that was etched with small angels.

"That's an odd stone." He nodded towards the ring. "For an engagement ring I mean; aren't they usually set with diamonds?"

"Engagement rings, yes," Mr. Perry went to the display and looked closer at the ring George was indicating. "Those are promise rings."

"Promise ring…" George looked at him blankly. He seemed to remember hearing the term a time or two, but apparently he hadn't been interested enough to pay attention long enough to catch the meaning of it.

"They've been around for ages, go in and out of fashion. They're all the rage again these days, since the war." Mr. Perry laughed at the confused look on George's face. "A bloke gives it to a girl he cares about when he wants to make a commitment, but it is too soon for the other."

George grinned. It seemed a bit silly, but at the same time, it made sense. "So…it's like a commitment with a promise to make a more serious commitment sometime down the road but with no promise of when?"

"Exactly." Mr. Perry laughed. "Everybody is happy. Parent's are happy because it stop their daughters from rushing into things, girls are happy because they get their commitment, and...well…we are happy because it stops women from nagging about the other I guess."

"Could I see that one?" George indicated the garnet ring with the angels.

"Have a thing for angels do you?" Mr. Perry chuckled as he pushed open the glass display case.

"Yeah, guess I do."

'_Definitely. Particularly blonde earthbound angels who walked circles about Diagon Alley in the snow.'_

The ring was beautiful, and it would be perfect. It would show Luna that he was serious, but it wouldn't scare her by being too serious. He looked at the price tag, because of the garnet it was considerably more expensive than the pin…not that that really mattered to him. The thing was, Luna wouldn't like that much. Then again, that didn't really matter either. It wouldn't be the first time his extravagance had annoyed her…and, probably not the last either.

He lay the ring on the counter and grinned mischievously; after all, annoying Luna was half of the fun.

"It's perfect, I'll take it."

* * *

Luna looked at her watch and then irritably kicked a small chunk of packed snow that lay innocently in her path; her allotted time for lunch was almost up and her shopping was not going well in the least.

She had managed to find some small things for George's parents, for the brothers she didn't know well, Bill and Fleur were easy since she had spent all that time with them the spring before. She knew Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione well enough to shop for them with her eyes closed.

All that remained was George and he was proving to be just as annoying in his absence as he sometimes was when he was present.

Luna sighed deeply, that wasn't true. George wasn't annoying at all. He was amazing, and special and he meant more to her than anyone in world. When she thought about him she saw this whole wonderful future laying ahead… the life they would one day share. When she closed her eyes she could almost see them, surrounded by their children living in an old country house that they would have restored themselves…preferably some where close to most of his family. Luna had never really understood what a difference having a large family could make; she had always been happy with just her father, but finding herself all alone in the world had changed that.

It had once been her dream to prove to the world that all of the rare creatures that she believed in were real. Now, all she dreamed of was having a family again, one that she could call her own, and amazingly, she had found someone who wanted to help her make her dreams come true.

George Weasley wasn't annoying at all; he was her dream come to life.

Luna gave her watch another cursory glance; she was out of time. She quickly crossed the street to her flat and went up the stairs, she needed a place to hide her gifts for the others until she managed to find time to wrap them. George had left her a note asking her to wait for him at her flat so they could have dinner together in Diagon Alley that evening, she could do it while she waited on his return from Hogsmeade. Her little flat was turning out to be quite convenient, even if she wasn't actually staying there.

She unlocked the door and rushed through the darkened rooms, flushing a little when she walked under the chandelier with the memory of their first kiss. It had been so sweet, much sweeter than how she had ever imagined it would be in her youthful ponderings.

She dropped the bags on the bed and then turned around, glancing at the clock next to the bed on her way back through the room. The sight of a million stars on the wall stopped her in her tracks and she turned towards the window…hanging on a small gold hook was a small token that her father had brought her from one of his many trips to Austria, a perfectly cut snowflake made of Viennese crystal.

It wasn't overly large, only about three inches tall, not the flat kind that you readily found in knick knock shops, but the three dimensional kind with pieces that were fused together to make the whole, the kind that could only be found by fine craftsmen. It had no embellishments; in fact was rather plain, but beautiful in it's simplicity. The snowflake didn't hold much value, not in comparison with the wonders that came out of the Goblin gold, silver and gemstone mines, but it was precious to Luna because it was a gift that had come from her father.

She didn't have the slightest doubt…if George knew that his gift was something that had been given to her by her father, he would understand the significance. He would know how much he meant to her, and the snowflake… it would be a reminder to him of the night they met in Diagon Alley.

It was the perfect gift.

With a small smile she stepped over to the window and then pulled it off the little gold hook she had used to hang it. She conjured a box and a healthy wad of fluffy raw cotton to wrap it up in, and then she kissed each tip of the snowflake, twelve in all, before putting in the box and sealing it. Not about to take any chances, she wrapped the box immediately, and then decided as long as she was wrapping, she may as well do the others as well …

"Let them complain about my taking too long for lunch," She smirked to herself and added a bright blue bow to the box that held the heavy book on astronomy that she had bought for Hermione. "I just happen to be in good with the boss."

When she finished she looked at her watch again, a guilty feeling filling her stomach despite her nonchalance over it a moment before. She debated for a moment, wondering if she should leave the boxes, or use a charm to minimize them and take them with her. With a small laugh she pulled her wand out and minimized the boxes, and then began putting them into a safe pocket in her bag.

Alone time was good, but there was such a thing as being too alone. If she and George ended up at her flat, they would never make it to dinner and she was starving… after all, she _had_ skipped lunch.

* * *

"So, what's this I heard you took a two hour lunch today?" George leaned across the table at the Leaky Cauldron, a sarcastic grin causing his eyes to crinkle in, what Luna thought at least, was the most charming way. "Cheating the boss are you?"

"You're not paying me." Luna countered, the conversation from that morning conveniently flashing back into her mind.

"I'm not?" Now he was taken aback. This was news to him.

"No, you're not." Luna picked up her hot mug of butterbeer and took a long drink. "I said so."

"Hell I'm not."

"You already paid me."

"Did not."

"Did so." Luna blinked innocently, her smile incredibly smug. "I am working to pay off my new ice skates."

George rolled his eyes and let his face fall into his palm. "Not this again."

"You won't let me pay you back, then I won't let you pay me for working for you."

He rubbed his forehead irritably before lifting his head and fixing her with a look. "That's not how it works."

"Of course it is." Luna was looking more and more smug by the minute. She had him, and even better, he knew she had him. "All's fair in …"

"Love and war…yeah, heard that before." He reached over and took her hand across the table. "So which is this, love, or war?"

Luna swallowed the flash of fear. It was too soon to be having this conversation, still much too soon. Then, she looked across at George. He was smiling so goofily and she realized that she was being a bit too black and white about the whole thing. There were many different stages of love, she wasn't sure exactly where they were…not infatuation, they were beyond that, but they were somewhere in the middle now, well on their way.

"Were not at war." It was the best she could do.

"But were not in love either." He twined their fingers together and lifted her hand to his lips then lowered her hand back to the table and played with her fingers, wondering if the garnet ring would need resizing. He was going to have to find some way to measure her finger without her finding out, and he was going to have to do it tonight…the next day was Christmas Eve. "Not yet."

Her heart had that horrible wonderful feeling again, the wild urge to break free from her chest and dance. She brushed a finger over his cheek in appreciation of his honesty. He was so much better at this than she was, she might be a Ravenclaw, but he was the one who was able to think things through and figure out the truth.

"Not yet." She agreed, her eyes moist.

George looked up, a tiny smile playing at the corner of his lips.

"Soon though."

Luna took a deep breath and let it out slowly before nodding in agreement.

"Soon."

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Chapter Ten Preview

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George embarks on a

daring and incredibly dangerous late night mission when Christmas Eve

comes to the Burrow.

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	10. On The Eve

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N:Okay this is my last completed chapter...so...updates might be a little slower from now on...but, I will do my best. This story really doesn't have that much left, only at the most, probably six more chapters. Enjoy!

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Snow Angels

Chapter Ten

On the Eve

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The Christmas Eve pre dawn was cold and crisp as George Weasley stole from his room and prowled the quiet stairwell for the landing below. Snow fell in huge, fluffy flakes the size of golf balls….the kind that Ron and Harry would be happy to find was easily blown away with wands.

It was the busiest day of the year for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and George would let no one forget it. He would stand at their doors at six am and his wake up call would echo through the doors thanks to the sonorous charm. They would hate it, which of course, was one of the reason why George would love it so much.

But that was in the morning, he had two hours until he would need to give his wake up call. First, there was something else he needed to do. He stopped, put a quieting charm on the floor, and the quickly sneaked inside.

He only had one shot at this, if he woke Luna before he was able to measure her ring finger with the piece of string he had brought, he would have to enlist the help of someone else, and he did not want to go down that road. They would never let him hear the end of it, they had big mouths, and they might spoil Luna's surprise. He had been awake half the night planning how to give her the ring, everything from burying it in her pancakes … hardly the most personal way, not to mention the fact that she might not say yes if she bit down on it and chipped a tooth… to a grand scene that involved filling her room with a million red roses.

But this wasn't a marriage proposal, making a big scene might make it seem too much like one and it could scare her off. It would certainly make his parent's freak out. No matter how close he felt to her, it had barely been a week since their meeting in Diagon Alley. Of course, he didn't need more time to know that she was the one he was going to marry, and he was fairly certain Luna felt the same…but he wanted to do things right. A promise ring seemed like the right first step, an appropriate first step…one his parents wouldn't go ballistic over.

Of course, that wouldn't stop the family from being obnoxious, but that was hardly anything new… they had been obnoxious since the moment he had walked through the door with her.

George crossed the room to where she slept, pulling the piece of string from the pocket of his robe as he went. He had never seen her sleep before and he wasn't sure what he had been expecting. Maybe that she would look like an angel in sleep, that she would be perfectly poised, her hair fanning around her head in perfect symmetric ringlets against the pillows, a delicate and dreamy smile on her face while she…of course…dreamed of him.

That wasn't how Luna looked.

She lay on her side, one arm flopped over the side of the bed, the other curled up by her face. Her hair was in long messy braids that lay twisting wildly around her head, her mouth was open … the spot on the pillow directly underneath was considerably darker than the rest, yet George was anything but appalled….it made her more real. Bedsides, he had been told he slept with his mouth open too, and unlike him, at least Luna didn't snore so loud she could wake the dead.

The best thing about her less than perfect sleeping position…her hand laying loosely on the floor, her fingers widely splayed. He would have no trouble measuring her finger…all he had to do was be quiet and not wake her.

George knelt down, eased the piece of string under her ring finger, and then tied it loosely in place. He reached into his pocket for the small scissors…and kept reaching.

'_Shit!' _He had left it upstairs.

The plan had been to tie the loop and then cut it open again, repairing it later so he could use the loop to size the ring. Now, he would have to ease the loop off her finger without waking her. George began to tug on the string while praying at the same time that Luna was a heavy sleeper.

He moved it slowly, thankful that Luna was a small person with tiny fingers. Once he got it past the knuckle, it would slide right off. It was the knuckle that did it. Unbeknown to him, Luna had given herself a paper cut the day before and as he slid the string over the cut, she woke.

Luna had been a prisoner of war, her reactions weren't the average persons reactions. George's biggest mistake was not taking this into consideration when planning to visit Luna's room. If he had, he never would have forgotten the scissors.

As it was, his only stroke of luck was that he had cleared the string from her finger and was just stashing it in his pocket when her fist lashed out and hit him in the face.

"Arghhhh!" He flew onto his backside and came to rest with his head against the other bed.

"What the hell...!" He pulled his hand away as the bedside lamp came to life; his palm was full of blood. "You hit me!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Luna sprang from the bed angrily then went to her knees next to him, grabbing the box of tissues from the dresser as she went. She pulled a wad from the box and then pressed them to his nose.

George froze, he had no idea what to tell her. How the hell was he going to get himself out of this one?

"I'll do it." He pulled the wad of tissues from her hand, hoping to buy himself some time. "You've done enough already."

"Well, I'm sorry...but you startled me. I'm not used to strange men skulking in my bedroom at four in the morning."

"I'm not strange."

Luna giggled, he looked pretty strange to her at the moment. "Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

_"_Yes _George_, you _are_."

"No_, Luna_...I am _not_." He pulled the tissue away, relieved to see that the bleeding had stopped.

"Are you going to tell me why you are skulking about my room or not?"

"I'm not skulking."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are."

The way he saw it, George had two choices. He could either play yes and no games all night, or he could find some way to distract her…distracting her sounded so much more enjoyable.

He reached for her, pulling her face to his. Their eyes locked for the briefest of seconds before their lips met. His arms slid around her, pulling her closer still.

Luna's mind froze, she was supposed to be angry with him. Shouldn't she break off the kiss and continue being indignant …not to mention the fact that he had so obviously chosen that moment to kiss her to distract her from the fact that he was skulking in her bedroom? But that seemed like such waste of time...spoiling a perfectly amazing kiss over something so silly. Wait...had they been arguing? What was it about again? She knew that she would remember in a minute or two...once this wonderful fog lifted...but until then...

George pulled back with a deep sigh. They were there again...the words that so desperately want to come from his mouth, but were far too premature. He knew it was only a matter of time, very soon the words would come… and he would be unable to stop them. Luna looked back at him and blinked, trying desperately to clear the haze, then she pulled further away and looked at him with grin…her memory restored.

"You were so skulking."

George rolled his eyes, dropped his hands from her shoulders, and let his head fall back against the side of the bed. "Why do you get so much enjoyment out of arguing with me?"

"Why do you think sticking your tongue in my mouth will make me forget that you were skulking in my room at four in the morning?"

George shrugged "I had to try."

The door swung open, first one face and then another appeared in the open door. George didn't know what he wished more, that they would go away so he could kiss her again, or that Luna had used a spell instead of hitting him…one that would have knocked him out for a month.

"What are you doing in here in the middle of the night?" Molly, the most dangerous woman he knew, stalked to where they sat. George couldn't help shivering...his mother _had_ killed Bellatrix LeStrange, after all.

"You really should answer her." Luna grinned at him teasingly

"Explain yourself." Molly looked fit to spit tacks, he was going to have to make this good.

"I…" George looked towards the door where his brothers, sister, and Harry and Hermione stood grinning like they were about to watch a really good duel. "Go back to bed."

"No." Smirking, Percy crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame.

"Percy, go back to bed." Arthur leveled his third oldest with a look. "The rest of you too."

"I want to know what George was doing in Luna's room." Ginny said stubbornly "She's my guest; my best friend."

George gaped at her and got off the floor. Since when had Luna become Ginny's guest? The way he remembered it, it was him who had brought her here from Diagon Alley.

"Actually." Charlie piped in. "I heard she was George's guest. That's what dad said."

"Can we focus please?" Molly turned back towards the others. "Go back to bed, all of you."

"But we want to know…" Ron began

"We have a right to know…"Ginny broke in

"I heard a noise," George turned to them with an exasperated growl; he'd had enough time to come up with a lie now after all. "I checked on all of you, but I thought I saw something go under Luna's bed."

"What?" Luna jumped up on the bed, her eyes wide in panic. "What's under my bed? I knew it, the Nargle charms didn't work…we shouldn't have painted them."

George struggled not to laugh. It so totally evened the score for her having hit him. The devilish, naughty part of him wanted to draw it out and make her squirm. Instead, he reached out and took her hand.

"There was nothing. It must have just been the light."

"See." Arthur smiled widely and moved towards the door. "You can all go back to bed now."

The group at the door cast semi-glares towards George, clearly they didn't believe his story. He wasn't completely sure his parent's did either, but his father would do anything to keep the peace, and his mother couldn't do anything without proof. Luna, bless her, was so thankful that there wasn't actually anything under the bed that it hadn't occurred to her yet to wonder if he might have been lying.

Of course, he was pretty much screwed when it did occur to her, but with a little bit of luck by the time it did they would be at the shop and it would be far too busy for her to do anything about it.

His parents went through the door, leaving him a very brief opportunity to kiss her goodnight…again.

"I didn't believe your story by the way." She smiled up at him, her eyes wide and amused. " I was just putting on a brilliantly acted ruse for the sake of your parents and the others."

"You're lying." he scoffed

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

He considered being chagrined and decided it was too much effort, at least he wouldn't have to worry about the moment of impending doom.

"I am assuming your sneaking in here has something to do with Christmas."

"Maybe." He grinned "Or maybe I just wanted to see you in your braids."

Luna looked horrified for a moment, her hand went to her hair as if she as going to jerk the ties out … and then practicality took over. She would just be putting them back in in a moment anyway…what was the point?

"I guess I'll find out soon enough. You're mother is still waiting on the stairs by the way, I don't think she believed your story either." She grinned in what George was sure was a highly sadistic way. "Good luck with that…it's not like you can distract her by sticking your tongue in her mouth."

"That's sick."

"I know." She giggled and kissed his cheek, pushed him out of the room and then closed the door. "Goodnight."

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George watched the door close in his face, unsure whether to laugh or be annoyed. As it turned out, he didn't have time to make a proper decision.

"Ahem." He looked down to find his mother standing at the bottom of the stairs, waggling a finger for him to join her. He looked at his watch and then followed her down the stairs. Looked like he wasn't going to be going back to sleep. He was surprised to find his father sitting at the table, either he had decided that truth would be better than fiction, or he had decided that he might need to protect his son from the wrath of his wife. Both possibilities made George shiver.

"Mum, dad…" He began, only to be shushed by his mother lifting a finger. She went to the stove and for some unfathomable reason, made hot cocoa. Once she had set steaming mugs in front of the three of them, she sat in the chair opposite George and looked at him curiously. Suddenly, George realized the reason she had made the hot cocoa… his mother was angry and making the cocoa had given her sufficient time to cool her temper down enough to show at least a modicum of civility. He was out of practice… he should have recognized the signs, but then he also realized…this was the first time in his life…ever…that he had been in trouble and had to face his parents without Fred sitting next to him.

"Now." Molly's smile was scary as hell, the calm and overly rational one that had usually resulted in his father taking them outside behind the barn. "Perhaps you will tell me the real reason you were in Luna's bedroom in the middle of the night."

"I told you…" George began feebly.

"Don't bother George; you should know by now your mother knows everything." Arthur said tiredly "I'd like to go back to bed, so let's get on with it."

His father was definitely there to prevent bodily harm.

"Alright." There was no way he was going to get away with a lie, not even a half truth. He sighed and rose from his chair, went to his cloak and came back a moment later with a small red velvet box in his hand. He lay it on the table in front of his mother.

"That is why I was in Luna's room."

Arthur and Molly exchanged worried looks, something that George had been expecting.

"What is it?" Arthur looked at the box as if it were covered in maggots.

"It's definitely not what you think." He rolled his eyes; picked the box up again, opened it, and then laid it back on the table.

Arthur picked the box up and looked closely at the ring. "Well, it's very pretty, but I don't think that it explains why you would be in Luna's room."

"I know why." Molly took the box from him, a knowing smile on her face. The other would have been far too soon, but this…this was perfectly acceptable. She took the ring out of the box and looked at it closer. "So you were in there…"

George rested his cheek in his hand, then blandly reached into his pocket and pulled out the string without saying a word.

"I see." Molly laughed, her good humor restored now that she was assured her son wasn't turning into a pervert. "You should have cut the string off her finger then repaired it."

"I planned to." George looked away sheepishly, his face growing redder by the minute. "I forgot the scissor upstairs."

To George's dismay, Molly threw her head back and laughed loudly.

"Thanks for not rubbing it in Mum." He rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Nothing like a bit of salt in the wound."

"Sorry George." She patted his shoulder. "It's just that, well…you and Fred were always so sneaky. It appears you've lost your touch."

George grinned, partially because of the irony, but also because they were talking about Fred and he didn't feel like he was about to be turned inside out by grief. He was remembering Fred and it felt good for once.

"Guess so, maybe." He joked "Never know when it might come back though."

"Is this what I am thinking it is George?" Molly was still staring at the ring, her eyes had taken on that same misty look that they had worn when she had found out that Harry and Ginny were a couple. The '- _Ohhh - one - my - babies - is - in - love - and - it - is - going - to - last - forever - look.' _

"It's a ring." He shrugged, deciding that it might be best to downplay it… for the sake of his own sanity, not to mention Luna's.

"You bought this from Mr. Perry in Hogsmeade, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"If that's the case, then this is more than a ring…it's a _promise_ ring." Molly corrected. "I thought I recognized the work. All the girls used to moon over them when I was in school."

"A promise to what?" Arthur asked, looking blankly between his wife and son.

"A young man gives a girl a promise ring as a promise that he will be buying her another ring sometime in the future." Molly smiled at George, her eyes growing mistier by the minute. If George wasn't careful, she would be rushing Luna out to look at china patterns after breakfast.

"What kind of ring?" Arthur looked puzzled, but in his defense, he was suffering from lack of sleep and it was four-thirty in the morning.

Molly gave Arthur a bemused grin. "A diamond ring."

"You mean an engagement ring."

"Yes." Molly looked incredibly pleased that he had caught on at last. George on the other hand would have been more than happy to have slid under the table and hidden out there until he could sneak out of the house and go hide away in his busy shop.

"It's a bit soon for an engagement ring isn't it?" He shook his head at George. "You've only been seeing each other since…since…" He looked at George blankly again, his eyes bleary with his need for sleep. "Hold on a minute…when did you and Luna start seeing each other?"

George laughed silently at his fathers confusion, they had managed to keep it a secret from one Weasley at least, that was better than none at all.

"Can I go back to bed now?" Arthur looked at his wife pleadingly, wanting nothing more than to see his pillow again now that it appeared Molly wasn't going to use it to smother their son.

"Yes Arthur." Molly patted his shoulder. "You go on back to bed." Arthur rose from the chair and kissed his wife on the cheek. He was as confused as ever, but he was sure Molly would explain in the morning. Chances were it still wouldn't make sense, but it couldn't be worse than it was now.

"Dad." George turned quickly and stopped him before he reached the stairs. "This is supposed to be a secret, so…not a word to anyone."

Arthur scratched his head, his eyes a glazed over mass of red. "I won't tell anyone anything. How can I when I have no idea what is going on?"

"Night dad." George grinned and then turned back to his misty eyed mother. Obviously, the real questioning was about to start. "Alright mum, let's have it."

"I reckoned something happened that night." She smiled, her finger brushing over the soft red velvet of the ring box.

"You were right." He shrugged and gave her a slight smile. "Something did happen."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Molly patted his hand and rose from the table, she went back to the stove for the kettle of hot cocoa to refill their cups and then returned to her chair. Her eyes danced with expectation and for the first time since that night George found that he actually _wanted_ to tell someone about it.

"Maybe I do." He smiled, the memory of that night coming to life again as the words formed on his tongue.

"I was upset when I left. I had started thinking about Fred and …well, you know how that has always effected me."

"I know dear, I knew it then. Of course I did." Molly reached across the table and covered his hands with her own.

"Everyone was trying so hard to pretend that nothing was different; it was like there was a big elephant in the room and everyone was pretending they couldn't see it. I couldn't stand it."

"You went to Diagon Alley; to go to the shop?"

"I started going to the Leaky Cauldron, but Tom was away. So instead I thought I would spend the night in the back room." A warm contented smile spread over his face and his eyes took on the dreamy quality of someone reliving a precious memory. "I turned around and … there she was."

"Luna."

"Luna. She was all alone walking in the snow ..." George nodded, he'd just felt a lovely fluttering in his chest at the mention of her name. He found he couldn't tell his mother everything, not the very most personal part, the part about his thinking she was an angel. Maybe someday, but not tonight. "We talked, about Fred, about her father, how she was sure he was gone and that she was all alone now. It hit me you know? Luna was all alone at Christmas, she would have given anything to have her father back … yet I had this wonderful family and I was turning my back on you." He lifted his eyes from their joined hands to see that she had tears on her cheeks. "I'm sorry mum, what I did…it was so wrong."

"You were hurting George. There is no right or wrong when you hurt, you only think about what you can do to make it hurt less."

"And that makes it okay to hurt others in the process?"

"Of course not." She smiled sadly and wiped at the tears. "But, when people love you enough they understand. You didn't mean to hurt anyone dear. Your sister and brothers know that. Losing Fred has been …" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "There are no words to describe it are there? It's been horrid, for all of us, but you and Fred were different. You were together, not just your whole lives, but from the moment you came into being. Not one member of this family will begrudge you your pain George. Not one."

He lifted his cup and took a long swallow. It was almost like they were discussing a different person; the person that he had been a week ago no longer existed.

"It's not like that anymore mum; I'm better."

"I know that." She smiled and squeezed his hands before letting go to sit back in her chair. "And, I know why too."

"She helped me that night. I know you and the others were in pain too, but… Luna understood in a way that no one else did…she knew _exactly_ what I was feeling, and … that wasn't the last time." He sighed and looked up again, his eyes pleading for the understanding that he knew his mother would give. "There has only been one person who has _really _understood me mum …until now."

"Sounds to me as if you understand each other." Molly smiled and leaned over the table again. "And I am proud of you for not leaving her on her own for Christmas. It was a very kind thing to do."

"I don't think kindness had much to do with it." George grinned, picked up the ring box, and then picked up the piece of string from where he dropped it on the table. "I have never been one to believe much in soul mates Mum, but…"

He took the ring out of the box, and then lay it over the loop of thread that he had measured from around Luna's finger.

They matched up perfectly.

Molly grinned as she looked at the two perfectly matched circles, she stood, skirted around the table and stood behind George, then rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Where do you stand on destiny George?"

She bent and kissed his cheek, and then turned and left him alone with his thoughts.

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Luna couldn't have imagined a more perfect Christmas Eve, particularly when she considered how she was supposed to be spending it, all alone in her flat with just her branch in a jar Christmas tree and a lonely, unused sprig of mistletoe hanging from the chandelier. It made her all the more thankful for the people who surrounded her now.

There were the usual Weasley's, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat in the center of the room, the radio turned to Mrs. Weasley's Christmas Eve staple, Celestina Warbeck. Bill and Fleur had come in from Shell Cottage bursting with news…Fleur would be having the couples first baby in June. Bill sat in a corner with his wife cheering him on while Charlie attempted to defeat him for the first time ever at wizards chess. Percy sat with his girlfriend Penelope in the corner opposite them. Percy had privately told George and Luna at the shop that day that with any luck, after the new year she would be his fiancée, he had bought a ring to give her at the stroke of midnight at the Ministry Ball.

It was to be a huge affair, held in celebration of the first new year post Voldemort. Mr. Weasley had come home with VIP tickets for everyone for the black tie/formal dress event. George hated wearing formal robes and he knew his family would never let him out of it.

He sat with Luna at the table playing exploding snap with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. The last two had starting talking dress shopping and included Luna in on the planning. If there was a part of him that didn't mind the idea of going, it was the part that knew it would mean seeing Luna in a formal dress … she was sure to be stunning.

"Well, it's getting late." Penelope rose from the settee where she and Percy had been sitting quietly talking. "We really need to get going, my parents will be waiting for us so we can go to church together."

"You'll be back right after Percy?" Molly asked, she didn't care much for the way the weather was looking.

"Of course mum." He bent down and kissed her cheek "I promised I would be here for breakfast in the morning, didn't I?"

She patted his hand where it rested on her shoulder, seeing Percy back at breakfast table in a Weasley sweater was one of the sights she was looking forward to the most the next day. It was something Percy was looking forward to even more.

"Be safe dears."

"We should really get going too mum." Bill stood and stretched "We have a lot of apparating to do tomorrow to get to Fleur's parents."

"Oh, if you must go." Molly understood that her oldest son was married now, part of that was getting used to the idea that he would miss some holidays with them…but that didn't mean that she had to like it.

"I'm sorry mum." Fleur kissed both of Molly's cheeks and gave her a tight hug. It was impossible to tell that the two had gotten off to rough start when you looked at them now, if not for the obvious lack of red hair, you might have thought that they were mother and daughter by birth, rather than by marriage. "Besides, that awful racket is giving me a headache…I don't see how you listen to it every year!"

Molly lowered a glare at Fleur and then laughed. As much as they loved one another, some things would never change. "Get out of here you two; give your parents my love won't you? Don't forget that box of sweets I made up for them."

"Got it mum." Bill swooped down and kissed her cheek again before sweeping Fleur out the door.

After a few last painful notes the radio went silent as the network went off the air. Molly looked around the now silent room.

"Well, I suppose I might as well go to bed. A lot to do in the morning. Arthur are you coming?"

"What?" Arthur looked up guiltily from the box of electric wires, nuts and bolts that Harry had given him. Apparently, they would have to wait for morning. He set them aside, and then rose to follow his wife to bed. "Oh, yes Molly."

Charlie followed them a moment later, and after being given a fairly nasty look by George, Harry, Ron Hermione and Ginny decided to follow his lead and go to bed as well.

Finally, George was alone with Luna. It was the first time they had been alone since she had punched him in her bedroom at four in the morning and it was only by way of some heavy pay offs that he had managed to stop his family from bringing it up multiple times during the day.

"I should probably go to bed too." Luna sighed softly and began to rise from her chair. George rose too, but he took her hand and lead her in to sit on the sofa.

"Not just yet." He smiled and went to the tree, reached deep inside the branches and came out with a bright blue wrapped box. There was no way he was doing this in front of his family; this was a moment that called for privacy. "I thought you might like this tonight."

"Oh." Luna's eyes went huge. "I thought we wouldn't exchange presents until morning."

"We will…with the others, but I want you to open mine now."

Luna felt her heart flip flop. It had to be something really special if he wanted to do it privately, but if he was giving her his now, then she was giving him hers as well.

"I'll be right back." Luna scuttled up the stairs to her bedroom, pulled out the tiny little shrunken box, and then used her wand to restore it to its intended size. A moment later she returned to the sitting room, her smile huge and radiant.

"Here." She smiled and put the shiny red box in his hand. "You open mine first."

"No, you open mine first." He pushed the box back in her hand.

"Stubborn." She pouted. "Can't you please open mine first?"

He hated it when she used those tactics. Not only was it unfair, but he was unable to resist.

"Alright." George pulled the box into his lap and tore at the wrapping, and then used his thumbnail to slice the seal on the box. He pulled the lid off, pulled out the wad of raw cotton and pulled it off until all that remained was the crystal snowflake.

The light from the Christmas fairies caught on the facets, casting a million sparkles over the dark room. George might have thought he had never seen anything more beautiful, if not for the fact that Luna's face was inches from his.

"It's beautiful." He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips, not caring if anyone was peaking from the stairs or not. By this time tomorrow they would all know everything anyway; what difference did it make if they found out now?

"It's not new, my father brought it home for me after one of his trips to Austria." Her smiled was beatific as she ran her finger over one of the edges of the snowflake. "I didn't know what to get you, then I saw this in my flat and thought you might like it. It reminded me of the night we met in Diagon Alley."

George smiled, he loved remembering that night. So much good had come from it.

"Are you sure you want me to have this? Your father gave this to you, maybe you should keep it."

"No, I want you to have it." She smiled and lay her head on his shoulder. "It is very special to me, and so I want you to have it so that when you look at it, you can know how much you mean to me."

The room was utterly silent as they stared into one another's eyes. A million things ran through George's mind at once, so many things he would have liked to have said, things that should have been said…but he was unable to say a thing. Luna overwhelmed him. Everything about her, her kindness, her gentleness, her loving heart… he had always thought he was a good person, but he was no where near good enough for her.

"I don't deserve you." He brushed his lips over hers, each gentle kiss making him realize just how true his words were.

"Don't be silly." Luna laughed when he pulled away. "Of course you do."

She meant every word. She meant it more than any thing she had ever said in her entire life.

He picked up the blue box again from where it had fallen when he kissed her, and then put it back in her hand.

"Your turn."

Luna had never been one for delicately opening packages and she wasn't about to start now, not even with George sitting next to her watching her intently. She ripped into the pretty blue paper, made short work of the ribbon, and within seconds sat holding a red velvet box…a look of horror on her face.

"George." Her voice was a mixture of dread and panic.

"It's okay." He laughed and kissed her cheek. "Relax, it's not what you think."

"Are you sure?"

"I bought the thing didn't I?" George cringed when her look still spoke of disbelief.

"You promise I am not going to open this and find a Wrackspurt egg sack?"

George's mouth nearly dropped onto his chest. Of all the things for her to be afraid of! Where would he even get a Wrackspurt egg sack; the bloody things didn't even exist. He opened his mouth to point this out, and then he noticed that Luna was laughing.

"That was mean." He forced his face into a pout, despite his urge to laugh.

"I know." She admitted "But you caught me off guard and scared me… I had to pay you back somehow."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're cruel?"

"Yes, you." She giggled and kissed his cheek. "Seriously… you promise there isn't a big nasty diamond in here?"

"Is the idea of being married to me really that repulsive?" He tried and failed to look hurt. He was enjoying this just as much as she was.

"At the moment? Yes."

"Well, thank you for your candor. In that case…" He tried to pull the box away.

"Nooooo!" Luna laughed and pushed his hands away. "I didn't say the idea was repulsive forever did I? Merlin's farts, I'm not even out of Hogwarts yet."

"So, you can see yourself married to me someday then."

She appeared to be thinking, truth was, she had already given this considerable thought and the answer was yes, a thousand times yes. She didn't need to let him know that though.

"Someday, sure."

George smirked, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. "Open the box then."

"Promise there isn't a diamond in here?" She asked nervously one last time.

"Diamond? No."

"Something else then?" She raised her eyebrow "Something worse?"

George let his head fall back against the wall and rolled his eyes. It was good that she was no push over, but this was taking things a little too far. It was a good thing he hadn't bought a promise ring with a diamond in it; or even worse, actually bought her an engagement ring. The crap would have really hit the fan then.

"Luna…Just open the box and quit arguing with me."

"Okay, fine." Luna bit her lip nervously, reached for the lid on the box and then slowly pried it open. She gasped when she saw the ring, it was incredibly beautiful; but what did it mean? Why had he asked if she could see herself married to him _someday_?

"It's beautiful George." She turned to him nervously, afraid to meet his eyes. "But.."

"It's not an engagement ring." He said defensively. "it's a promise ring."

"A promise ring." She nodded "Promise for what exactly?"

"Basically?" He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek "That one day it will be replaced with the real thing."

"I see."

She was quiet, far, far too quiet. George wasn't sure exactly what kind of reaction he had been expecting from her, but he was pretty sure this wasn't it.

"Luna… I'm sorry, if it's too much too soon…"

"No, it's not that."

"Is it me? You said you could see yourself married to me someday…but if I'm not what you want…"

"No!" She turned and put her hand over his mouth. "Don't be stupid. Of course it's not you."

"Then what is it?"

"I am just… surprised, that's all."

"Good surprised, or bad surprised?"

Luna laughed. "Good, definitely good. It's a lot like how I felt after we kissed the first time. Its so unexpected George… things like this just don't happen to Loony Lovegood."

"You're not Loony Lovegood." George shook his head and cupped her cheek in his hand. "You never have been."

Luna leaned down and kissed him, her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him tightly against her. This whole thing had taken on a dream like quality… but if this was a dream, she seriously did not want to wake up…she was going to get every last moment of enjoyment out of it while she could.

George gently took hold of her arms and pushed her back.

"Is that a yes?"

"You really want to marry me someday?" she smiled, her eyes alive with happiness.

"I bought the ring didn't I?"

"You did."

"Would you just say yes already then?" George laughed. She was teasing him now and there was a time to play around, and there was a time to be serious… this was definitely the latter.

Luna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wanted this, wanted it more than she had wanted most things in her life. In all the darkness and despair of the past few months, it was a promise for the future.

It was hope.

She smiled and kissed him. "Yes."

Grinning like a mad man, George took the box from her hand, took out the silver and garnet ring and then slid it on her finger. He leaned in to kiss her, but in the moment before their lips met, Luna burst out laughing.

"What?" George was dismayed…he had obviously missed some vital part of the joke.

"I just figured out what you were doing in my room at four in the morning." She giggled madly "It would have been a bit of poetic justice if you had been actually measuring my finger for an engagement ring, don't you think, considering that I knocked you flat?"

George looked at her with an amazed grin.

"You need to stop reading my mind."

"What fun would that be?"

George had to admit, she had a point.

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Chapter Eleven Preview

Christmas Day comes

to the Burrow along with a significant

gift for Luna!

AND

The secrets out!

How will the Weasley's (and the odd Potter

and Granger) react?

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	11. Traditions

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N Hmm, reviews were down last chapter and it was my favorite chapter of the story so far! :( My sad! Are people losing interest or just busy? Last week was my birthday too. :( Maybe it is time to refresh the Imperious curse. "IMPERIOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" _Review Review Review!_

For those who are also reading The Year After...I am off to work on chapter 19 now. I had a family crisis this past week and I was able to get next to no writing done...I apologize for this. I will get the next chapter up as soon as possible. -CJ

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Snow Angels

Chapter Eleven

Traditions

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Luna felt herself eased from sleep by the sensation of being watched. There was no danger in the feeling, not even the slightest bit of unpleasantness, just a touch of oddness. Despite this feeling she was reluctant to open her eyes, her dreams had been so sweet, so very, very beautiful. In her dream, George Weasley was in love with her and said that he wanted to marry her someday; he had even given her a silver and garnet promise ring.

It couldn't be real of course, it was just a lovely dream, it had to be. Luna knew full well that people thought she was strange…Loony they called her, Loony Lovegood. George Weasley's did not fall in love with the Loony Lovegoods of the world, whether they were really loony or not.

It was the nature of dreams, particularly sweet ones, that they did not want to let go. They could be so cruel at times, heartbreakingly beautiful and they often seemed so real…but in the end they were just illusions. Waking…the realization that it hadn't been real was like a punch to the heart with a flaming fist. Luna knew this well; she felt it every time she dreamed her mother and father were still alive, only to wake and find that it had all been a dream…it was the most brutal form of blasphemy.

Yet this awakening felt oddly different. As she became more alert the dream refused to fade, if anything, it became more real.

And then she felt it… soft, warm fingers brushing over her cheek bone, warm breath on her cheek.

"Merry Christmas."

Her eyes flew open and it hit her then… it hadn't been a dream at all…the dream was real!

"George!" She sat straight up in bed, her eyes as big as quaffles. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't say a word but kissed her instead, then he pulled back and smiled. "I came to tell my …" He stumbled for a moment, trying to find the appropriate word.

"_promised_…Merry Christmas."

"Promised?" Luna couldn't help it, he was trying so hard to be sweet and romantic, but it was just so … funny. She started to laugh, and then laughed harder and harder, until she fell back on the bed.

"If you can do better…" George rolled his eyes and sat next to her, picked up the ends of her braids and tugged them. "… you figure out what I am supposed to refer to you as."

A look of pure mortification crossed her face as she realized how she must look. Luna tugged her braids out of his fingers, pulled the ties off the ends, and then began to finger comb out the long plaits.

"Promised is fine." She blushed and pushed her way down to the end of the bed, slid out and then went to her bag for her brush.

"Does your mum know you are in here?" She turned to him with a mischievous grin. "Wouldn't want to see a repeat incident now would we?"

"Actually smarty pants." He reached down onto the floor and picked up a squishy, bright silver package. "She sent me up here to give you this, and to tell you breakfast is almost ready."

"Oh." Luna sat next to him on the bed and began running the brush through her hair. "Presents, already?"

"This isn't just any present." He picked up her hand and kissed her fingers just above the garnet ring. "This is a special one."

"So, I should open it…"

"Yes, now." George laughed and pulled the brush out of her hand. "And just so you know, you'll be expected to wear it now too. It's tradition."

"Oh...okay." Nervously she pulled the package out of his hands and put it in her lap. She worked slowly, peeling off the seals and ribbon.

"What is this? You ripped into mine like the hounds of hell." George teased. "Come on, breakfast is getting cold."

Luna relented and tore into the package, inside was a soft midnight blue sweater.

"I knew it would be blue." George sighed and picked up the long fluffy sleeve. "Mum always knows what color will look best."

"She does?"

He closed his eyes, then began reciting as if from a list while he counted each off on his fingers. "Scarlet for dad, brown for Bill, tan for Charlie, grey for Percy, cream for me and Fred, maroon for Ron, mauve for Ginny, red for Hermione, green for Harry, pink for Fleur…and now" He smiled contentedly "Blue for Luna."

"She does this every year?" Luna smiled, happily brushing her fingers over the soft fluffy wool "That's so sweet."

"Your very first Weasley sweater." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "So, lets see it then." He pulled it away and held it up and Luna's breath caught….

…stitched on the front was an angel.

"Did you tell her?" She turned to him, an expression on her face that was somewhere between pleased and embarrassed.

"I didn't…but" His eyes were as wide as hers. Then he grinned, lifted her hand and traced over the angels with a finger. "…she saw your ring."

He shook his head "Mum always knows."

"They have a way of doing that don't they?" Luna smiled dreamily, her eyes a million miles away. "Dad always knew what I was thinking, sometimes even before I did."

"Fred and I were like that too. We always had a connection that felt like it was more than brothers."

"You weren't just brothers, you were twins." Luna smiled and put her hand over his. "What you have here, this huge wonderful family, is so beautiful and so precious…I envy you. You don't know what's like to grow up an only child. It could be so…lonely at times. Dad did the best he could, he spoiled me rotten, but I would have liked to have had a sister to share secrets with, or a brother who went out of his way to annoy me." She sighed and looked away. "I watch all of you and it's so beautiful and wonderful…it makes me feel a little jealous."

George watched the emotion flicker across her face while he tried to imagine Luna's childhood. A sad image came to mind …a tiny girl with blonde hair and sad silvery blue eyes, sitting in a room all alone surrounded with toys but no one to share them with.

His own childhood had been so loud, he and Fred had been like the eye of the storm, damaging nearly everything that lay in their path. They had terrorized Ron and Percy, idolized Ginny and looked up to Bill and Charlie with awe and respect…not that it protected any of them from a practical joke. When it came to having a laugh, Fred and George played no favorites…not even their parents were exempt.

One of the most amazing things about his family, the thing he loved the most about them in fact, was that they had good, kind hearts. Harry Potter had been one of them since the first moment Ron had sat across from him on the Hogwarts express and though her relationship with Ron had had its moments of incivility, Hermione had become one of them the night Ron fought a mountain troll on her behalf. As big as the Weasley family was…there was always room for more.

"You don't have to be jealous." He put his arms around her and pulled her closer. "You're one of us now."

Luna smiled up at him wanly "You keep saying that."

"Because it's true." He lifted her chin until their eyes met. "Have you missed all the teasing since you've been here? How they have been antagonizing the both of us? That's what brothers and sisters do to one another, it means your one of us." He reached down and teased the ring on her finger "This only makes it a little more official."

Luna smiled and then groaned. "They're going to be revolting about it, aren't they?"

"Oh yes." George laughed softly and let her go, standing to go to the door. "Yes they are." He turned around again and grinned "I don't so much mind that they will be teasing us about being together. Hell, let them tease me about it, I'm a far cry from being embarrassed about it."

"Me either." Luna raised her chin and stood, her face set bravely.

George nodded and opened the door. " It's all that gloating about having been right that's going to be a right pain in the arse."

He winked, stepped out and closed the door.

Luna fell back on the bed with a deep sigh. She had been awake less then thirty minutes and already this was shaping up to be one of the best Christmas's of her life. She thought back to five days before, the day the ministry official had met her when she came off the Hogwarts Express. Because it was the first Christmas after the war, no one was staying behind and none of the Prefects would be there to stay in Ravenclaw Tower. Even Professor Flitwick would be gone, off to spend the holiday with his sister and brother so staying behind at Hogwarts wasn't an option.

Professor McGonagall, the new Headmistress, had made arrangements with the ministry to find her a flat in Diagon Alley… she was close enough to being seventeen that no one felt she needed to be placed with a guardian for the short two week holiday…besides, she would need a place to live when she finished in the spring.

The first few days had been fun and exciting, decorating and furnishing her new flat had been an exhilarating challenge. Her father had raised her to be thrifty and money wise, so despite the fact that she could have done everything by catalog …tapped a few pages and had everything appear…she haunted thrift stores and second hand furniture stores. Still, that could only last so long…eventually, she ran out of things to do.

The ministry official who came daily to check on her never lingered long, a quarter of a hour at the most. She was a starchy, stiff woman anyway… not someone Luna could draw into interesting conversations. Luna stopped trying the day she looked at Luna like she was insane and started scribbling notes in her folder when she asked if they might put a special screen in the fireplace to keep out Fire Eating Wigglewhams.

During the day she busied herself by going out and walking among the busy shoppers. She bought roasted chestnuts and hot frothy Butterbeer in the Leaky Cauldron, losing herself in the observations of the people around her. One day, she had wandered into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes because she had been thinking about buying a pygmy puff … thinking maybe a companion would help erase some of the loneliness. She had even caught a glimpse of George, struggling with some boxes in the back. Ginny and the others hadn't been in that day and when she glanced in the tank where the pygmy puffs were supposed to be, the tank was empty and she left empty handed.

Night time was the worst. There was no one to talk to, nothing to do and no where to go. Diagon Alley became eerily quiet once the shops closed down for the night so there were no people to watch from her windows. She had no neighbors, her friends were spread around the countryside and she'd had no idea that Ginny and the others were working in George's shop…she certainly didn't know George well enough to attempt a conversation with him. He and Fred had been so popular, so larger than life.

That was why she was so shocked to turn and find that it was him that had been following her around Diagon Alley. She had been tempted for days to go out and walk at night…it was something to do at least, but she had been warned that there might still be death eaters in the area. Luna had always loved snow and once it started falling…it was just too much to resist. She loved the feel of the cold biting her nose, the tickle of the flakes hitting her cheeks as she walked and her hair blowing in the breeze. She was loving every minute of it…

…until she sensed that someone was following her.

She quickened her step, anxious to get back to the main district and back to her flat. As she neared the play park, she dared a glance back and saw that he had closed the distance…and then, he called out to her.

Nothing could have prepared her for the fact that it was George Weasley…_THE_ _George Weasley _behind her. All of this was like a dream come true, but not…because even as dreamy as she was, Luna would never have dared to dream that she would be _promised_ to George Weasley.

Luna sat up again, giggling over the silly description of their commitment. George had a point though, what else were they supposed to call it?

"Luna!" Ginny banged loudly on the door and stuck her head inside. "Breakfast is getting cold, come on."

Luna looked up, a silly grin on her face as she quickly hid her left hand in the folds of her first Weasley sweater. She was no more ashamed than George was…but she was in no hurry for the teasing to start either. "I'm coming, just need to get dressed."

"Let's see it." Ginny laughed and stepped in wearing a beautiful mauve sweater decorated with white poinsettia leaves.

"What?" Luna flinched and her hand clenched into a fist. "See what?"

"Your Weasley sweater."

"Oh." Luna laughed with relief, slid her hand out of the sweater and handed it to Ginny with her right hand, sliding her left into the folds of the blankets. Ginny held the sweater up and appraised it, shaking her head.

"What is it with you and angels?" Ginny smiled and handed the sweater back. "It always seems to be about angels with you."

Luna smiled dreamily, a flash of memories from that first night in her mind. George's face as he reached out and brushed a bit of hair out of her face, the striking sight of snowflakes in his red hair and the way he smiled when she handed him half of her poinsettia pin. The memories were so sweet she felt like she could cry again. Like how she wanted to cry when he took her hand, the feel of his lips on her cheek…the adorable blush on his cheek when he told her he had thought she was an angel sent from heaven to ease his pain. All of it had lead her to where she was now, and teasing or not, she wasn't going to be embarrassed by it.

Luna raised her left hand from the blankets and lifted it to take the sweater back; Ginny's widened eyes making Luna giggle.

"Yes, It certainly seems so."

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Despite continuous stares, the group assembled around the Weasley's breakfast table said nothing about the addition to Luna's finger. On the part of the male members, it was perhaps because they didn't realize the significance. Arthur knew that it was a promise ring, Molly had attempted to explain the concept, but it was a hazy sort of thing…a little like knowing that muggles had ingenious devices that allowed them to fly as if they had brooms…yet he had no idea of what made them work. Ron, Harry, Percy and Charlie had no concept of promise rings and so, had no idea why Hermione, Ginny and Molly…who did know what they were ….were grinning so dreamily when they looked at the ring. Also, for some reason, George and Luna couldn't stop blushing. This, the men figured, was likely because they had stayed up later than the others and so had probably put in some serious overtime under the mistletoe.

Somehow, the confusion only increased the merriment around the table. There was of course, the joy of Percy's return to the table in his Weasley sweater. This didn't erase the sadness caused by the Weasley sweater that was missing…but it did go a long way towards easing the pain. All had come into the holidays with a sense of dread, they had barely began to feel a sense of normalcy again and feared the season would tear the scabs off once again. It was partly true, more than once during breakfast they found themselves looking around the table, almost as if they were looking for the missing face. Their faces would lower to their laps for a moment, just long enough to take a deep breath and regain their strength. Always, a hand found it's way into theirs, offering comfort and understanding.

It was after one of these times, just after Luna had reached over and taken his had in hers, that George stood and picked up his orange juice.

"Everybody, I have an announcement to make."

Luna blanched…surely he wasn't going to…

"Luna and I are together."

Luna breathed a deep sigh of relief…announcing they were together was much better than announcing they were _promised_…there were sure to be less questions involved.

"Thought you had an announcement." Percy rolled his eyes

Hermione grinned "Tell us something we don't know."

Ron turned to Harry, a huge grin on his face. "You owe me a galleon, hand it over."

"No way." Harry replied "The bet was by breakfast, we're at the end of breakfast. You owe me."

"Aww." Ron dug in his pocket and pulled out a coin, then handed it to Harry with a sour look on his face. "Couldn't you have been a bit faster George?"

George looked around, aghast. His eyes fell on Ginny and Hermione…he was fairly sure he saw Hermione hand Ginny something under the table too.

"You bet on us?" Luna looked at them, flabbergasted. "That's so.."

"Mean?" George added on "I'm shocked."

Harry looked at George as if he were the worlds biggest hypocrite "You ran a betting pool when I was in the Tri-Wizard tournament."

"That was different." George shrugged

Ginny lowered him with a look "You bet against him."

"Not where it really mattered." George grinned, he was totally busted and he knew it. "Not in spirit."

"Karma's a bitch George." Charlie grinned "Get used to it."

"Watch your mouth." Molly shook her finger around the table. "And stop teasing your brother, I should think you would all be nicer; it's Christmas."

"Thank you Mum." George smiled triumphantly, unable to stop himself from smirking smugly at the others. He rose from the table, taking Luna by the hand. "Now if you'll excuse us, I think I would like to go for a skate with my _promised_. .._Alone_." He stressed the last word…knowing Molly would assure that it stay that way.

They left them sitting, the men confused, the women eyes wide with curiosity. George knew they were going to pay for his being so flippant…but later. Right now, he wanted some time alone with Luna. Besides, let his mum explain the concept…she was a lot more patient than he was.

He helped her into her cloak, then grabbed their skates on the way out the door. Hand in hand they walked through the snow to the pond in the back.

"So…that went well." Luna grinned "I can't believe they made bets on us."

"I can." George laughed. "They were right, it's the exactly what Fred and I would have done. How can I be mad when they learned by our example?"

"That's terrible."

"I know, I feel so wretched over it."

Luna looked over at George, if his grin was any indication…he wasn't feeling that wretched.

"Liar, liar pant's on fire, hanging from a Flameroot Spire."

"I know." George, not quite ready to ask what a Flameroot Spire was, pulled out his wand and began blowing snow off the pond. "Isn't it terrible?"

Luna took out her wand and moved to his side, blowing snow in the other direction. "Despicable."

"Well, if you really feel that way maybe I should…" George stopped abruptly, his eyes on the house.

"Should what?" Luna turned back "George?"

"We're being watched." He shifted around so his back was to the house. "They're all at the windows, stuck there like those window sticky things you see in muggle shops."

Luna turned towards the house and sure enough, two windows were filled with Weasley's, a Potter and a Granger. George felt a flash of annoyance that he didn't dwell on_. 'It could be worse' _he reasoned, at least his parent's weren't there.

"Well, if they are going to watch, maybe we should give them something to see then." Luna grinned and moved closer to the edge of the pond so she was in better view. An only child her entire life, Luna wasn't used to so much invasion of her privacy and quite honestly, she was fed up with it. It was time for a little pay back. "Come here George."

George's heart thudded in his chest; this was so unlike Luna…usually she was much shyer, but he wasn't about to turn down a kiss…even if she was about to blatantly kiss him in front of everyone. Then again, it was something they would need to get used to. Now that were out in the open, he planned on getting a lot more use out of that mistletoe.

"Take your cloak off." She ordered when he reached her side. "And do what I do."

Nervously, George pulled his cloak off, tossing it to join Luna's on the snow bank next to the pond. This didn't seem like it was going to be what he thought it was. Luna turned around so that her back was to the window and gave George a wink…and then she dropped her pants…flashing their onlookers on a full moon.

George's eyes went huge…then he laughed loudly, and followed her lead.

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Inside the house, one by one each face turned a spectacular shade of red. Ginny and Hermione were horrified, the last thing they had ever wanted to see was George's bare butt…and they weren't particularly thrilled with seeing Luna's either. The males didn't mind seeing Luna's too much…but George's…well, that dimmed out any enjoyment they might have derived from seeing Luna's.

They stepped away from the window and let the curtains fall closed. Through the small gap, Ginny just caught sight of them pulling their pants back into place and sliding away on the pond, laughing and holding their stomachs. None of them were able to move, they were stunned silent and immobile.

"What in the world." Molly looked from Charlie on the end, to Hermione on the other. "What's gotten into you?"

"Erm…" Harry gave a half turn and pointed to the curtains.

"….."

"….."

"….."

"….."

Ginny, Ron, Charlie and Hermione were stunned speechless, instead they stood...red faced and gulping.

"Mum." Percy spoke in a semi-whine "George and Luna mooned us."

"They what?"

"You know…" Harry spoke, his face a surprising shade of green. "Flashed us their bums."

Molly stepped to the window to look out.

"Don't look out there mum!" Ron warned, stepping in front of the gap to protect his mothers innocent eyes. "It's scary!"

Molly shoved him out of the way and pulled the curtain apart. All she saw was George and Luna, sitting side by side on a fallen log putting on their skates. Just before she turned away from the window, George leaned over and kissed her, Luna reached up, brushing her fingers over his cheek lovingly. After all the sadness and pain Molly knew George had suffered over the past months, to see him so happy was enough to make her cry.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but even if they did, it's nothing more than you deserve. You just leave your brother and Luna to themselves." Molly pulled away from the window, her eyes misty. "You lot just think about this, how would you feel if it was you out there with everyone watching."

Molly left them standing by the window, sure that she had them well cowed. "Let's get the table cleared and this kitchen cleaned up, I need to get dinner started or we'll be eating at midnight."

The assembled at the window looked at one another, then with guilty hearts, went into the kitchen.

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"You're crazy, you know that?" George was laughing so hard he was having trouble lacing his skates. "I mean that in a totally complimentary way of course."

"Don't get the wrong idea George, I don't normally go about flashing my buttocks at people." She giggled, trying to force the end of the lace into the tiny hole. Her aim was off thanks to the giggle induced shaking of her shoulders. "Only people who deserve it."

"Have many people deserved it?"

"No, they were the first." Luna finally succeeded in threading her skate and tied it into a neat bow, then looped the bow over to double knot it. "But they were doubly deserving."

"So they got two moons." George finished his own skate and stood and offered his hand.

"You know George." Luna took the offered hand and rose to her feet. "My name means moon, so, they can now say they were mooned by the moon."

"I love the way you think." He shook his head, a little nervous by his use of the 'L' word, but not about to let it ruin the moment. "It's just so…"

"Loony?"

"No." A stab of sadness went through him. Her use of her school nickname was a reminder…very soon Luna would be leaving, going back to Hogwarts where she wasn't always treated very nice. Not only was he going to miss her, but she was going to be in a place where she might be unhappy. "You shouldn't call yourself that."

"Other people do."

"They're morons."

"Of course they are." Luna smiled and stepped onto the ice. "That's why what they say doesn't bother me. Dad always told me the only opinions that matter are our own and those of the people who are important to us.

"I've never had a lot of friends and I suppose in part that's because people think I am loony, but the truth is…I could have denied my beliefs a long time ago in order to fit in. I could have changed the way I dress, I could have been just like everyone else and had lots of friends. Thing is… they wouldn't have been real friends. They wouldn't have liked me for who I r_eally_ was; they would have liked me for someone I wasn't.

"My real friends, as annoying as they can be sometimes…" She nodded towards the house, an amused grin on her face. "I know they _really_ care about me, so that is the only opinion that matters."

She smiled then and reached down and took his hands in hers. "And yours."

George sighed and pulled her into his arms. Not for the first time, he wondered how he could have been so blind that he hadn't seen her before. He wished that they had come together before this, when Fred was still alive. He knew Fred would have liked Luna had he had a chance to know her. Under the strange surface that the world saw, she was just a normal girl trying to make sense of a world in chaos. But she was more, funnier than many, sweeter than most, kinder than almost all…at least those that he had known.

The words were closer to the surface than ever before, harder to hold back; George knew it wouldn't be long now before they came out. It wasn't about weeks anymore, it was about days…maybe even hours. Her words had erased the barriers, now his heart refused to deny the words. He loved her…he loved her with his whole heart, and even though they had only been together a short time, he knew they were meant to be together. Meant for forever.

George pulled back slightly and brushed her cheek with his thumb, then he smiled down at her, his eyes misty.

"Merry Christmas Luna."

Luna felt like her heart was going to explode. It was a good thing George had his arms around her, when he looked at her like that, her knees went weak. It was the look that made it nearly impossible to hold back the words that she knew it was far too soon to think…much less to say. Too soon or not, this Christmas morning, her heart was singing them loud and clear…a beautiful melody so sweet that it brought tears to her eyes. She loved him…she loved George Weasley so much her heart was going to explode into happy, singing pieces and take flight. She looked up at him and smiled, her arms tightening around him.

"Merry Christmas George."

George bent his head and their lips met, soft, lingering, and oh so very sweet. When he pulled back he wiped a tear from her cheek then pulled her into his arms again and pushed off into a backwards glide over the ice.

They would have to go inside soon, his parent's were sure to be livid over the mooning incident and there were still Christmas traditions that needed attention, but despite the big pile of Christmas gifts still waiting to be opened….

He had already been given the most precious gift of all.

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Chapter Twelve Preview

The day after Christmas, a

snowstorm forces George to face the past and leads

to an important moment.

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	12. The Storm

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N Merry Christmas Everyone! Here's a brand new chpater! Hope you enjoy! Getting close to the end here...thinking maybe three chapters left after this one!

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SnowAngels

Chapter Twelve

The Storm

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"I hate the day after Christmas" George groused as he tried to work his broom into a tight corner. His attempt to dislodge a random chunk of Trick Christmas Coal seemed futile and he couldn't resist cursing the someone who had broken off the chunk from larger piece in a struggle to get the last one. "People come in here like mad men trashing the place."

Luna looked up from the box of miscellaneous odds and ends that she was pricing for the next day. "You must make a lot of money though, even with the prices being lower."

"I do." George grinned triumphantly, finally freeing the piece and sweeping it into the dust pan. "Doesn't make them less annoying though."

He turned around, his attention caught by the sparkle of Luna's promise ring. He loved seeing it on her finger, it was visible proof that she would be his wife someday. He looked forward to that day with hope that he never would have thought possible only a week before. He knew his family had been shocked by the promise ring and outwardly, it did seem a bit soon. The truth was, he was in no hurry to marry, he wasn't even in a hurry to put a diamond on her finger, he was happy enough that she wore the simple silver and garnet promise ring. After all the months of uncertainty and loss, all he needed was the promise of happily ever after to make him content.

"Well, the worst is over now." Luna grinned as George approached, her mega watt smile making his heart flip in his chest. He pulled the box from her hand and sat it on the counter next to her, and then took her hands in his.

"Hi." He grinned and pulled her close for a kiss.

"Hello yourself."

"I hate to say it, as much as I am enjoying being alone for the moment…" He nodded out the window at the storm that seemed to be kicking up more and more fury with each passing second. "… but if we are going to get back to the Burrow, we need to go now."

He had just pulled her off the counter and gone into the store room for their cloaks when his fathers head popped up in the office fire.

"Dad…were on our way out, tell mum…"

"No George…" Arthur's head crackled in and out in the fire. "Stay put. Whatever you do, don't try to apparate, people are splinching themselves all up and down the country because of the high winds. The ministry is having a mess trying to get people out on Thestrals to help them."

"Okay." George nodded "We'll go to Luna's."

"Be careful, this storm is putting put out fireplaces that are connected to the Floo network so make sure her fire isn't connected before you go!"

"Okay dad. Dad, you're not going out there…"

Arthur's head crackled and then the fire vanished and refused to be relit.

George turned away, hoping fervently that his father wasn't foolish enough to actually go out on a Thestral in the storm. There were younger men at the ministry for that, let them risk their lives, his family had lost enough already.

He picked up their cloaks and walked swiftly from the room. The last thing he needed was to start thinking grim thoughts, the night was going to be long enough as it was. A sudden grin quirked his lips as something suddenly occurred to him, he was stranded in Diagon Alley…alone with Luna. How bad could that possibly be, or rather, how could that possibly be bad?

"Luna, we have to go to your flat." He forced a serious tone into his voice. "The floo network has gone down and it isn't safe to apparate because of the storm. Is your fireplace connected to the network?"

"It is." She nodded "The ministry connected it because I am still a minor, they were supposed to be checking in on me over the holiday but since I was staying with your family, they didn't have to."

"Any chance they closed the connection?"

"I don't think so." She shook her head "I am pretty sure they would have told me if they had."

"Damn it." George paced back and forth, trying to come up with a solution that wouldn't require their having to go upstairs. He hadn't been up there since before Fred died, Bill had gone to collect Fred's best robes for him to be buried in and since then, no one had so much as broached the subject. But with the fire out, it was starting to get cold in the shop. The wind and snow lashed against the large shop front windows and the draft made the candle flames flicker. George had a couple blankets in the back room, but they wouldn't be enough.

"George." Luna reached out and took his hand in hers. She knew the internal struggle he was suffering. It wasn't fair that he should have to suffer like that, particularly not because he was worried about her. "Maybe we could make a ring of blue bell flames, like your dad did the night we went skating."

"It wouldn't be enough." He ran his thumb down her cheek, his heart bursting with emotion. That she was willing to give up her own comfort for him, it spoke volumes about the kind of woman she was. "Besides, I have to do it sometime; I can't keep running away can I?"

He let go of her hand and then gave his wand a flick, locking all the windows and doors and putting out the candles. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring of keys, then took her hand and crossed to a small locked door. The lock turned and the door fell open to reveal a flight of stairs, George winced and closed his eyes.

"It's okay George." Luna reached out a hand and gently caressed his cheek. "You're not alone."

She smiled gently and kissed his cheek in the same place where her hand had touched only a moment before, then she took his hand in both of hers. Her back to the stairs, she lead him up them slowly, until they had reached the top. Luna pulled the keys from his free hand, and then using the same key on the ring that she had seen him use downstairs, she unlocked the upper door and let it fall open.

The room was mostly dark, only a trace of phantom light filtered in from the street below. It had a dank and musty smell from being closed off for so long. If not for the storm outside, Luna would have loved to open the windows wide, to allow the fresh, crisp, winter air to breathe life into the room that felt so oppressively sad.

George stood in the doorway, frozen in place and unwilling; or perhaps afraid, to step inside. Luna gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"It's okay George. I promise." Then, as she had with the stairs, she took his hand and lead him the rest of the way inside. She took off her cloak, and then his, hanging them on the hook next to the door and then she pulled out her wand and gave it a flick, bringing the oil lamps to life.

But for a thick layer of dust, the room was amazingly clean; considering that two young men in their early twenties had lived there. Luna suspected that this was George's doing, he was the kind of person who liked things neat and orderly, it only stood to reason his housekeeping would reflect that.

"I'd better get a fire going." George said, coming out of his daze somewhat. He went to another door, this one leading to a small porch with a set of stairs that led to the side walk, and came back a moment later with an arm full of wood.

"Would you like some help?" Luna offered, squatting down next to him.

"You must be freezing." He looked her over, she was wearing a short sleeved white sweater that made her eyes darken to a deep sapphire blue, but it did little to keep her warm. He nodded to the closed door on the left of the fireplace. "I have some extra blankets in my closet."

Luna smiled and stood once again, going to the indicated door and pushed it open. Like the front room, it was dark and musty smelling from having been closed off for so long, but it too was neat and orderly; giving proof to what she had assumed. Granted, she had no idea what Fred's room looked like, but she was willing to bet, and bet heavily, that George was the one responsible for the overall neatness of the flat.

George's personality screamed out from every corner of the little bedroom. A neatly made double bed sat in one corner, made up with soft blue sheets, a darker blue quilt and a mountain of pillows. At the foot, a soft yellow blanket lay folded neatly. Atop his dresser was an array of personal care products, a comb and a brush and several pictures of his family; more than a few of just him and Fred. The most surprising thing of all was a framed picture of Hogwarts. There was nothing special about it, it wasn't a Quidditch team picture, no Fred or George, in fact…there was no one in it at all. Just the castle…and even stranger, nothing moved, not a single tree or branch. Luna picked up the picture to look closer, perhaps there was something she was missing.

"Surprised?" George stood in the doorway, an unreadable look on his face.

"Curious."

"You knew Colin Creevey of course." George moved to her side and took the frame from her, looking at it wistfully. Luna nodded.

"When he first came to Hogwarts he had his muggle camera. Fred and I were… curious." He smiled with the memory. "It was a beautiful morning, warm for late September. The leaves were at the peak of color, the view breathtaking from the Owlery. Apparently, Colin thought so too. He let us try his camera, this is the picture I took that morning." He sighed sadly and turned away, motioning with his finger for her to follow. She didn't have to ask to know where they were going.

Fred's room, while not as neat as George's, was surprisingly clean as well. The bed was mussed as if he had just gotten out of it, a pair of jeans lay over a chair, a basket of laundry still waited to be put away in front of the dresser. Like George's room, Fred's personality rang from every corner. Fred had been the wilder, the louder of the two. Fred's desk was covered in burns and scratches, there were spots and gouges on the walls from experiments gone wrong…or perhaps right, depending on the intent.

As she stood in the middle of it, Luna couldn't help but realize that George was sharing something incredibly personal with her. This was the first time he had been back in Fred's room since his death…and he wanted her with him. It meant so very much, so much that it made her want to cry.

George walked to the dresser, a dresser adorned much like his, that in fact held many of the same pictures. He picked up a framed photograph, walked back to her side and then handed it to her. It was taken with a muggle camera, the exact same as the one that she had found in George's room. The picture was exactly the same but with one vital difference, Fred had included George in his picture. Luna looked up and smiled.

"He loved you."

"I know." George smiled back, wiped at a tear that threatened at the corner of his eye and then nodded. "And I loved him … I still love him."

"Of course you do, that isn't the kind of thing that goes away just because someone dies."

George nodded again, raising the photograph to his face to blow off the accumulated dust.

"He still loves you, you know, even if he isn't here anymore, he loves you in Heaven."

"Do you think so?"

"I don't think so, I know so."

George leaned in to kiss her, and then brushed the back of his fingers down the side of her face, wishing more than anything in the world that he could see things the same way she did. Luna was an optimist, she had the remarkable ability to believe in the unseen without doubt, no matter how many people challenged her. She was brave, and someone to be admired. Someone to be adored.

"Have I ever told you, just how amazing you are?"

"Not in those words." Luna laughed and leaned closer to rest her cheek on his shoulder. "But please don't, one of these days I might actually believe all the things you say and become horribly arrogant."

George considered arguing, but with Luna that close he could feel her gentle shivering. The fire hadn't been burning long enough to warm the entire flat yet, they would better off in front of it.

"We should wrap up in some of those blankets you never dug out of my closet. You're shivering."

"And you think cuddling with you under a bunch of blankets is going to stop me from shivering?" Luna gave him an incredulous look, then pulled away and moved towards the bedroom door.

"I should think so."

Luna turned back and winked. "Not if you are the reason I am shivering."

George watched her go, and appreciative grin on his face. One of the things he adored most about Luna was her playfulness. He sobered as he turned back, considering the room once again. Eventually he would need to decide what to do with Fred's things. He was thankful that the family hadn't taken it upon themselves to do it for him, he had half expected that he might come in here and find the room empty…they had been _that_ worried about him over the long and horrible summer.

The room remained exactly as Fred had left it, the only thing missing was the garment bag that he had kept his best robes in. Indirectly, it was because of Luna that they had moved back out to the Burrow. Her abduction had frightened their mother enough that she had asked them to come back so as much of the family as was possible was under one roof. They had complied easily enough. The disappearance of shop keepers had been happening more and more and so they had already closed their doors. Diagon Alley had become a scary place to be by the end of December; it was strange, to think that it had been just a year, yet so very much had changed.

"George?" Luna called out from the kitchen and with a final look around, George left and closed the door. He placed the two photographs side by side on the mantle, then went to join her in the kitchen. She had pulled out a box of macaroni and some other various boxes of seasoning and mixes. They had left little food in the house, they had had no idea when they might be returning.

"There isn't much, I'm not sure I can work with this little." She turned and gave him an apologetic look "I'm sorry."

"I have some candy in the shop…but that isn't going to feed us." He leaned against the counter, considering their options. "Do you have food stocked up at your flat?"

"Yes, loads of it actually." She nodded "I haven't eaten there at all this week."

George pushed off from the counter. "Are your keys in your cloak?"

"Yes…but you can't seriously mean to go out in this storm."

"Of course I am." He looked at her like she was being absolutely daft. "It's two blocks."

"George, you can't. It's not safe."

He rolled his eyes at her.

"Then I am going with you." Luna reached for her cloak and George stopped her with a single look. Luna knew that look, this was another argument, like a few others she had had with him over the past week, that she had no hope of winning.

"Hardly the first storm I've gone out in." He went to the closet and pulled out a thick wool coat, heavy knit hat, gloves and scarf. At least he would be warmer in that than in a cloak. He went to the indoor stairwell and pulled the door open, then leaned over to kiss her goodbye.

"George, I really wish you wouldn't."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." With a quick kiss he was gone.

Luna listened to him thump down the stairs, when she heard the door at the bottom click closed she closed the upper door, kicking it stubbornly.

"Idiot." She hissed, moving to the window in time to see him walk out into the violently swirling snow. "How the hell am I supposed to marry you if you get yourself killed?"

Luna didn't move away from the window, each moment, each second that went by felt longer than the last. All she could see outside was snow, and more snow. Heavy snow carried along by the dangerously high winds. Factoring in the wind chill, it had to be far below zero, like in the double digits, and George was foolish enough to go out in it. It was stupid, they could have survived for one night without food.

The seconds ticked on and Luna's fear increased. It felt as if he had been gone hours but a glance at the clock showed that he had only been gone minutes, fifteen to be exact. Was that enough time for him to go two blocks, grab some food, and then come back? Surely it had to be…but then, he had probably taken some time to warm up, even without a fire, it had to be warmer in her flat than it was out in the storm. There was a loud pop and the street lights went dark.

'_Wonderful' _she thought spitefully, now George wouldn't have even the slightest light to guide him.

Another ten minutes passed, twenty-five minutes now...surely that was more than enough time, it was only two blocks. Luna twisted the silver and garnet ring on her finger, her eyes locked on the darkness outside…she could no longer see the street below.

"George, if you don't come back… I swear, I'll never forgive you."

It was too long, much too long. Luna whirled for the door, grabbing her cloak as she passed the hooks by the door, then yanked the door open.

"Where do you think you're going?" George growled at her through madly chattering teeth. "It's freezing down there, get inside."

Luna backed up and let him in, closing the door behind him. She dropped her cloak on the floor and then turned to throw herself into his arms.

"Don't." he pushed her back gently. "You'll get yourself chilled. Let me get this stuff off."

His face was a horrible deep red from the cold, wind bitten and raw. His eyes bloodshot, his lips blue. Even under the heavy gloves, his hands were red. His entire body shook with violent shivers, so badly that he couldn't manage the buttons on his coat. Luna pulled the bags from his hands, set them on the floor, and then unbuttoned the coat herself.

"You're frozen." She pulled him to the fire and then pushed him down into a chair, kneeling in front of him to pull off his shoes. "I told you not to go out there."

He shrugged nonchalantly and grinned down at her, "I'm hungry."

"Yeah?" Luna looked up at him angrily, it had only been twenty-five minutes...but she had lived and died a thousand deaths in those minutes. It had never hit her before, letting George into her heart also meant opening herself up to the possibility of more loss. If something happened to him … she couldn't even think the words. A sudden ferocious fire leapt into her eyes. _How dare he be so nonchalant about something that was so vital to her? _

"Well, you're stupid too!" she spat angrily as she rose to her feet. If she had found something close enough, she might have thrown it at him.

"Luna." George looked up at her, flabbergasted. "What did I do?"

"Nothing." She picked up the bag and went into the kitchen. She had always been an angry cook, chopping and slicing had always seemed a more constructive way to take out her anger than hexing the hell out of the people who annoyed her…considering how lengthy that list could be at times.

George wasn't the type to just let her walk away. He was out of the chair and standing in front of her before she could take two steps.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"Go back under the blankets."

"Not till you tell me what's wrong."

"George…" Luna looked up at him and her anger dissolved. She had always been that way, quick to anger, but even quicker to let it go. It wasn't George's fault that she was afraid of losing someone else she cared about. She moved closer and put her arms around his still shivering body. He was still so cold. "You're freezing, you need to go back under the blankets."

He pulled the bag out of her hand, lifted her up into his arms and carried her to the chair by the fire and then sat down with her in his lap.

"Did you really mean it when you said that you would marry me someday?"

"Well…of all the things to ask." A flare of anger rekindled; Luna looked at him indignantly "Of course I did."

"Then if you are planning on being married to me, you can't hide things from me." He gave her a stern, stubborn expression. "That is not the way I do things, and to be perfectly honest, I didn't think you did either."

"I don't."

"Then tell me why you were mad a moment ago."

Luna felt a fresh flare of anger "Because you're stupid."

"Yes, I got that part." George rolled his eyes, she could be so damned stubborn when she wanted to be. "Now tell me the rest."

"There was no real reason for you to go out in the storm." Luna braced herself for the excuses she knew were coming. " It was stupid, we could have gone without food for one night."

"But…"

Luna pulled back and arched an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to know why I was angry?"

"I do."

"Then be quiet and let me tell you."

George couldn't help grinning. "Sorry. Go ahead."

"Thank you." Her tone was sarcastic, but her eyes were afraid. "When you were gone, I was … worried… that something had happened."

"You were afraid."

"Yes, I was afraid. It made me realize that I could lose you too and I've lost enough to last me a lifetime." She raised her chin and looked him in the eyes, her tone steely tough, her eyes still lost in the fear that he had seen settle in them a moment before. "Be as nonchalant as you wish, but your devil may care attitude about your well being pisses me off."

George was stunned speechless. She was right, so very right to be angry with him. He had always been that way, so blasé about things that should have been taken much more seriously. He of all people knew just how fragile life was now, like delicate spun glass…it could be whole and beautiful one moment, then shattered and destroyed the next. He knew that better that anyone.

"I'm sorry." He said simply, his eyes locked into hers with remorse, begging for forgiveness. " You're right, I wasn't thinking."

"You're all I have George. If I lost you, I would be alone again."

"That's not true." He shook his head and pulled her closer, her face held in his hands. "You're one of us now, a Weasley…maybe not in name, but in intention. If something happened to me, you would still have them, but nothing is going to happen to me. I'm not going to leave you."

"You can't promise that." She shook her head, her bottom lip trembling slightly. "Neither of us can."

"No…I guess we can't." George looked to the fireplace at the two pictures that sat side by side. Next to them was a picture of him and Fred as babies only minutes old, safe in their mothers arms. Their whole lives had been in front of them, hopes and dreams not even dreamed yet, now one of them was gone. It was a brutal reminder that what Luna was saying was true. It was far too damned true. "All we can do is live the best we can while we can."

"Carpe Deum." She whispered. George nodded slowly, his thumb brushing her cheek gently.

"Carpe Deum."

Like an ever present shadow, the words were there again. The words that had been at the tip of her tongue since the moment of their first kiss. She…they both…had been fighting them since. In their minds, they knew it was too soon, even with the promise of a future on her finger now, their minds screamed

'_TOO SOON!'_

Their hearts…their hearts were another matter. Their hearts knew that the words had been building, not since their first kiss, but from the moment George had followed her that night in Diagon Alley. If asked, neither would say that they believed in soul mates… that was far too corny, far too impractical for thinkers like them. At least that was what they would have said a week ago, before they met one another again. Now, well…now they weren't so sure about anything anymore.

That wasn't exactly true; there was one thing they were very sure of. Life was too short, life was unfair, and life very rarely gave second chances. It kept coming back to two words…the words that were Luna's mothers favorite words of wisdom.

Carpe Deum….Seize the moment.

The words mixed together in Luna's mind, her mothers wisdom and the words she was afraid to say and was afraid to _not_ say at the same time. The words stood between them, floating on the air as they stared into one another's eyes, pale silver into light brown, and Luna realized that it was already too late, the words were already out there, they had been for a long time. The act of saying them was just a technicality.

She closed her eyes and kissed him softly on the lips, loving the feeling when his hand slid from her cheek and into her hair. In a moment she would pull away, she would look back into his eyes and then she would say what she needed so desperately to say, what she had been forcing herself not to say for the past week. Once the words were spoken everything would change, it would be better, but it would still be different. The commitment between them would be more real, it would be more complex. She wanted that change, she longed for the deeper bond it would bring …but for just a second more, she basked in the simplicity.

With a deep breath she pulled away, brushing his cheek with her fingers as she did. She opened her eyes, looking deeply into his once again, and then she smiled.

'_Where do you stand on destiny George?'_

Molly's words reverberated in George's ears…he had been telling himself for days that it was too soon, but as he looked into her eyes…he realized, if anything, it wasn't soon enough.

"I love you Luna."

A trickle of tears broke from her eyes as she laughed, it was so fitting, so much like them… as always, George had understood. He had known what she was thinking the whole time. Her throat was tight, and she swallowed, hoping the motion would loosen it enough to give her the ability to speak.

It was hoarse, barely a whisper… but it was enough.

"I love you too George."

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Chapter Thirteen Preview

The continuing

storm brings unforeseen

complications.

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	13. Closer

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N-Going to be wrapping this up in the next chapter since interest seems to be dropping.

Minor Mature Content

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SnowAngels

Chapter Thirteen

Closer

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George shivered as he watched Luna put away the last of the dishes. The storm continued to rage outside and the later it grew, the colder it had become. Even with the fire, the flat maintained it's chill. Fred and George had known it needed to be reinsulated two winters before, but it was one of those things that they had never quite gotten around to…there had always been so many other interesting things on their minds.

Now however, the temperature of the flat was taking center stage in George's thoughts. It was getting late and soon, they would both need to sleep. Ordinarily, it would be obvious…George would give Luna his bedroom, and he would sleep in Fred's…but this wasn't ordinary. There was no way he could bring himself to sleep in Fred's room, and even if he could, Fred's bedroom faced the wind and the windows were cracked…with the wind it would be nasty drafty. His bedroom wasn't much better, the best option would be to pull his mattress into the front room and sleep in front of the fire…he, as unattractive as the idea was, would sleep on the dusty sofa.

Luna closed a cupboard door, then turned to him with a stifled yawn. It had been a long day, they had been up since six and it was going on eleven now.

"So," Luna smiled "Where do we sleep?"

George looked at her with raised eyebrows; typical Luna, reading his mind again.

"I'll bring my mattress out for you to sleep on." He rose from the table and moved towards the bedroom. "I'll sleep on the sofa."

"The sofa?" Luna stepped over and slapped the end with the palm of her hand. A thick cloud of dust rose up into the air. "Really?"

"You have a better idea?"

Luna shrugged and sat down in the chair. She had an idea, but she wasn't sure how she felt about it. George poked his head out of the bedroom and tossed a pile of flannel into her lap.

"Here, you can sleep in this. Sorry, it's the only pair I have."

She picked up the first piece of the soft yellow fabric, it was a button down pajama top, several sizes to big for her. She lay it over the arm of the chair and then picked up the bottom…and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" George tossed a pile of pillows onto the sofa, kicking up another nasty cloud of dust.

"This." Luna stood and pulled the pajama pants on. As soon as she let them go, they fell down around her ankles. "Thanks for the offer, but…"

George grinned "You can still wear the top."

Luna smiled and went into the bathroom to change. She had a quick wash up, then pulled on the pajama shirt and braided her hair in one long braid. When she came back, George had moved the mattress and had put fresh sheets on it.

"Get in where it's warm." He nodded towards the bed, trying not to let his eyes linger on her bare legs.

"Thank you George." Luna smiled up at him adoringly. "I hate to put you to so much work."

He knelt down in front of her, his hand reached out to play with the end of braid…she was just so cute when she wore the braid. "I'd do anything for you, you know that."

"I know." She smiled and sighed in pure bliss. "That why I love you so much."

George's heart thrilled at the sound of the words, so new, yet so familiar at the same time. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "I love you too. Sweet dreams."

Luna lay her head down on the pillow and watched as he walked over to the closet. He opened it, then pulled out an old beaters bat and started pounding furiously on the sofa…choking and spluttering as he got lost deeper in the fog of dust. She shook her head, not sure if she was amused, or exasperated.

"George…" She sat up and sat cross legged "…you're never going to make that thing clean enough to sleep on."

"Well I'm not sleeping on the floor. So, as I said…" He looked at her over his shoulder while he prepared to take another swing. "…if you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

Luna bit her lip … it wasn't as if she was offering anything tawdry, just a place to sleep.

"Well…there's plenty of room here." She slid over closer to the fire "Sleep with me."

The bat slid from George's hand and landed with a loud thud on the floor. He stared at her for a moment, then laughed and bent to pick it up.

"Luna, be serious."

"Really George, it's not as if I'm not offering you hot, wild, steamy sex." Luna rolled her eyes. "I'm offering you a warm, clean place to sleep."

George felt an obscene twitch in a rather improper place at Luna's mention of sex…he quickly shook it off and went on to the rest of her comment. Luna was innocent, and despite a few instances of intense snogging, so was he. They were hardly going to fall into a pit of carnal pleasures by sharing a bed for one night.

"Right." George tossed the bat on the sofa…where it kicked up another nasty cloud of dust…and picked up the pajama bottoms, then vanished into the bathroom.

Luna rolled her eyes and plopped back down into the large pile of pillows…yet another way it seemed she and George were compatible. Luna loved pillows.

George crept out of the bathroom in the pajama bottoms and his t-shirt. He tiptoed on the cold floor, then slid into the bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin, turned away from her and slid to the edge as far away as possible…so far, that his legs were curled up on the floor. Luna grinned and leaned over him so she could see his face.

"George?"

"Yes?" He peeked an eye open and looked up at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Respecting your space." He closed his eye and turned back away from her.

"George?" Luna didn't go away.

"Yes?"

"I don't need quite this much space." She giggled "If fact, you could even put your arms around me if you wanted to…unless you don't want to…"

"Who say's I don't want to?" George sat up and turned towards her, the motion pulling him out of the bed so he was sitting on the floor.

"So… you're afraid? Afraid of me?" Luna challenged, her eyes sparkling. Teasing him was so much fun sometimes.

"I'm not afraid." George said vehemently and slid back into the bed. "I'm definitely not afraid of you."

"You act like you're afraid."

"I'm not," George moved closer, his face inches from hers. "For your information Miss Smarty Pants, I am trying to be a gentleman."

"Oh, I see." Luna nodded "There is such a thing as being too much a gentleman you know."

George narrowed his eyes at her "Too much eh?"

"Yes." An unfathomable grin spread across her face. Luna felt an unfamiliar thrill at her daring. A week before she had never been kissed…now, she was on the verge of seducing. She was discovering a whole new side of herself, like this was a season of self-exploration…and she liked it.

"You know…" She sat up on her knees and put her hands on his shoulders. "You could even kiss me if you like."

Like the beaters bat hitting the floor…George's heart gave a deep thud against his ribs as he reached for her to pull her closer. He had never _needed_ to kiss anyone before, he had wanted to plenty of times, but never before had he felt as if he would lose his mind if he didn't. He knew that he shouldn't do it, there were too many feelings between them, the emotions so strong, the attraction so intense…they could be leading themselves into something that was much deeper than they were ready for.

But the need…the need was inescapable.

His hands slid up the sides of her legs to her hips, from her hips to her the small of her back, and he pulled her to him. Their lips met in an explosion of fire and flesh, the last of their innocence obliterated as their tongues met and he pulled her closer. He pulled the tie from her hair, brushing his fingers through it to free it from the restraining plaits.

Luna's mind marveled in a sort of detached wonder. How had she gotten here? Her words had been meant to tease; how had they lead to this intensity…this all consuming need to touch him? She moved closer, her hands moving on his back, up to his neck, into his hair…repeating the circuit over and over again…she sighed against his lips in pleasure when he lowered her to her back.

George moaned when her hands slid under his shirt to touch his skin, his own hands making their first tentative touches on her stomach and breasts. She felt entirely too good under him and he knew that he needed to stop this…it was far, far too soon …if for no other reason than they weren't prepared. He doubted Luna was taking any kind of precautions…until the week before, she had never even been kissed.

Yet he couldn't stop himself…and he couldn't stop her. He arched his back when she pulled his shirt up over his head, then yanked it off when it caught on his chin. He took her lips again, hungry and greedy for more, his hands moving down for the buttons on her pajama top. His lips moved in time with his hand, kissing each inch of skin as it was exposed. Her hands tightened in his hair and he rolled on top of her, pressing his need into her own, his blood boiled when she met his thrusts with equal desire.

"George." She panted, her head tossing side to side on the pillow. "I'm on fire. I want you so much."

The fabric parted and pulled away, completely exposing her breasts, he moved his mouth lower, down her neck, then to her nipples, flicking his tongue over her before pulling her completely in. Luna gasped and pressed her hips into his again.

"I want you." She moaned and tugged at his pajama bottoms "Please George…I want you…I want you to be my first."

Her words slammed into him and he froze.

He didn't want to be her first…he wanted to be her _only_.

If they did this, if they rushed into something neither of them was ready for, they would both regret it and regret could destroy them. George knew…even as their bodies screamed for one another…neither of them were ready for this.

George pulled away from her, sliding onto his side, then rested his forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, his fingers brushing gently over her cheek.

"George," Luna pulled away, her eyes wide and hurt. "What's wrong?"

"We can't do this." He reached down, pulling her pajama top back in place and closing the buttons once again.

"I don't understand." Luna looked at him in confusion. "I thought you wanted me."

George swallowed deeply, still fighting his body's will to override his good intentions. Every inch of his body was screaming out for her, demanding that he make love to her now and the hell with the consequences. His reply was to himself, as much as it was to her. "I do…but we can't."

She looked up at him, the first vestiges of shame coming into her eyes. Did he think she was a slut for letting him go so far; for the fact that she had wanted him…that she _still _wanted him? She turned her face away, her eyes becoming moist.

"Don't." George turned her back to face him. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to stop? I don't think I have ever done anything more difficult."

"Then why…"

He grinned down at her. "Are you taking an anti pregnancy potion Luna? If you thought it was too soon for a diamond, it's definitely too soon for George Jr. But…if you are taking a potion…" He moved towards her and Luna jerked away from him, a dawning of clarity in her eyes.

"Point taken." Luna grinned at him shyly and rolled up on her elbow. "I'm sorry…"

"For?" George wrapped a ringlet of blonde hair around his finger from the pillow between them, wondering if he might be able to stop her from re-braiding it. He had always been curious to see what she looked like with her hair in a tangled mass of curls in the morning.

"I sort of attacked you."

"No sort of about it." He grinned "You molested my mannish body. And me an innocent virgin too."

Luna looked at him oddly, as if she were trying to decide whether he was pulling her leg or not.

"You don't believe me." George looked a little hurt.

"You were so popular." Luna shrugged "You and Fred both…there were always so many girls around you, pretty girls."

"That doesn't mean I was sleeping with them."

"Well of course it doesn't." Luna lay her head on her pillow and reached up to touch his face. "When you only know someone at a distance, it's easy to draw misconceptions about them. Can you honestly say that you didn't have any about me?"

George looked away and Luna laughed. "Tell the truth George, you expected that all I ever did was stare at the sky for interesting cloud formations and talk on about Nargles."

"Actually, it was Crumple Horned Snorkacks." He turned back and smiled sheepishly, then brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek. "I guess we both had a few misconceptions."

"So much about you isn't what I thought it was," Luna pulled his hand to her lips and kissed his fingers. "I'm glad that I get to know the real George Weasley. He's pretty amazing."

"No more than the real Luna Lovegood." He bent his head and kissed her, then lay down, pulled her close in his arms and pulled the blankets up around them. He kissed her cheek, then whispered in her ear.

"She's pretty spectacular."

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George blinked his eyes open, thankful for the absence of the sound of wind; it seemed as if the storm had blown over in the night. A wonderful smell drifted over his nose and he rolled over onto his side and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

Luna stood by the stove, still clad in only the pajama top and a pair of far too big socks she must have found in his drawer. The sound of sizzling sausage had taken the place of the wind; made even more pleasant by the amazing scent that accompanied it.

"Good morning." Luna turned and smiled at him brightly. She hadn't put her hair back in the braid the night before and the tangled mess was even better than George had envisioned…of course, it didn't hurt matters that he remembered so vividly how it had gotten so tangled…at least partially.

"Morning." He returned her smile and pushed up from the floor, going to stand behind her. Along with the sausages was another pan filled with scrambled eggs. He tugged on her hand until she turned to face him, then he pulled her into a kiss that was anything but chaste.

"You shouldn't kiss me like that." Luna sighed as she pulled away. "We'll be in trouble again."

"The apothecary might be open by now." George teased, a devilish grin on his face. "Want me to go check?"

"Er…No." Luna dimpled at him and pushed past to pull a pair of plates from the cupboard. "I need to face your parents sometime today. It's going to be hard enough as it is."

George grinned, enjoying the blush on her cheeks. It was much easier to deal with what had almost happened the night before in the light of day. "Good for you then that you will be able to put it off for most of the day."

"I will?"

"Hogsmeade, remember?"

"Oh…right." Luna sighed thankfully and slid most of the sausages out of the pan and onto a plate, then sat it on the table in front of him. She had forgotten that they were going to Hogsmeade to start working on his little cottage behind the new shop that day. "Small favors."

George watched her walk back to the stove with a glow in his eyes, flashes of the night before adding a little heat to his cheeks as well. Even as everything had been screaming at him that it was too soon…his heart had been assuring him that being with _her _was so _right_.

Luna returned with her own plate and the pan of eggs, she slid half the eggs onto his plate, then onto her own, tipped the pan into the sink, and sat down kitty-corner from him. They ate in companionable silence for a moment, Luna taking occasional glances at him out of the corner of her eye that were almost nervous.

"What?" He asked after the third time.

"It's nothing." She shook her head.

"What?" George lowered his head and gave her an out-with-it look.

"I don't know, I just feel a little…odd now."

"Odd how? Because we were…almost…"

"Well, that." Luna nodded "But, not only that, but …what we said too."

"Oh." George dropped his fork. Was she regretting having said she loved him? "You're sorry you said it?"

"No! Of course I'm not sorry!" She looked at him like he had just said the stupidest thing she had ever heard, which for Luna…was saying a lot. "Are you sorry?"

"Of course not." He shrugged, a sliver of hurt stabbing him in the chest. "You're the one with regrets."

"I didn't say I regretting anything." Now Luna did look hurt. How could he think that she would regret it? "I just said that I feel odd. Things are different now…it's like…so much has changed in such a short time. We said what we did… and then we…and we almost…" She shook her head and looked at her hands where she had them clenched tightly in her lap. "Everything is going to be different now."

"I'm sorry." George reached down and pulled her hand out of her lap, then held it between his. "I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously not." The hurt tone was in her voice, the tone that George hated most of all.

"Luna, this is like my being jealous of that idiot waiter…this is all new to me, I'm going to make mistakes."

"It's new to me too." Luna's voice was miserable. "Even more to me than it is to you."

"I know, I'm sorry. Even more reason why we need to be careful and take things slow." He reached over and turned her face towards him. He leaned over and kissed her softly, then pulled her out of the chair and into his lap. "It's only been a little more then a week since we met in Diagon Alley…"

Luna sighed and looked up at him, twining their fingers together. "It feels like much longer doesn't it?"

"It does." He agreed. "And it's not as if we '_met'_ met, we've known one another our whole lives. But this…this is different, and it's all happened so fast, yet at the same time, it feels so right…like its fate propelling us along rather than conscious thought."

"Like last night." Luna sighed "It felt so right, like we were supposed to be together…like we had been waiting for that moment our whole lives."

"Maybe we have been." George smiled a little, his cheeks pinking again.

"I've never believed in soul mates." Luna lay her head on his shoulder.

George laughed and repeated his mother's words. "Where do you stand on destiny?"

Luna giggled. "I'm pretty sure than I stand the same place you do…just like usual."

"I don't want to make any mistakes. We have our whole lives ahead of us, there's no need to rush into anything."

"You're right." Luna sighed and lay her head on his chest, then wrapped her arms around him tightly. "But I can't take back the words…not now that I already said them."

"I don't want you to." George tightened his arms around her "Slowing down doesn't mean slowing down how much I love you…I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. Which…by the way…I don't."

Luna sighed against his neck. Slowing things down…it seemed an impossible task to her. Everything between them had moved so fast, so fast it had nearly left her breathless…but in the most wonderful way imaginable. But the truth was…what had almost happened the night before…she wasn't ready for it. Not just in terms of being safe, but emotionally. Opening herself up to someone in that way was a huge thing…it was a commitment, the kind of commitment that she would only make with someone who was willing to make it a lifetime commitment. She needed to be sure…and as much as she was sure George loved her, she was still insecure. They were only days away from a time when they would be apart and yes, absence makes the heart grow fonder…but absence also made people forget…particularly a whirlwind romance.

The quiet was interrupted by a loud banging. George looked over to see a shadow at the door.

"That will be Harry and Ron, wanting in to open the shop."

"I better get dressed then." Luna slid off his lap and scooped up her pile of clothes from the chair. She stood on tiptoes to kiss him, then disappeared into the bathroom.

"Hang on a minute!" George yelled at the door, then used his wand to levitate the mattress back to his bed…his family didn't need to know any details. He pulled on a shirt, then twisted the doorknob.

"Hello George!" He was enveloped in a crushing hug, then lips crashed down on his.

"Angelina." George pushed her away, his glance not on her, but on the bathroom door.

"Nice to see you too." Angelina laughed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I came back to spend New Years with you." She pulled off her cloak and draped it against the back of a chair. "I heard there is going to be a huge ball, I thought we could go together."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." George looked over to see Luna, standing in the bathroom door, her eyes stormy.

"Luna Lovegood?" Angelina looked her up and down, wondering what she was doing there. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Er…Angelina." George brushed past Angelina and took Luna's hand. "Luna and I are together."

"Together?" Angelina looked like she wanted to laugh…obviously this was another of George's jokes.

"Promised." Luna lifted her left hand to show Angelina the garnet ring.

"Promised to what exactly?"

George leveled Angelina with a look.

"To be engaged."

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Chapter Fourteen Preview

Yikes!

Luna and Angelina

face to face…

Who will be left standing when the smoke clears?

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	14. A New Year

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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A/N And here we have it...the last chapter of SnowAngels...and it is a nice long one! Please see my end notes at the end. By the way..shame on your guys, expecting a big fight between Angelina and Luna! I said there wasn't going to be any conflict in this story? LOL

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Prologue

"_Luna Lovegood?" Angelina looked her up and down, wondering what she was doing there. "What in the world are you doing here?"_

"_I could ask you the same thing."_

"_Err…Angelina." George brushed past Angelina and took Luna's hand. "Luna and I are together." _

"_Together?" Angelina looked like she wanted to laugh…obviously; this was another of George's jokes. _

"_Promised." Luna lifted her left hand to show Angelina the garnet ring._

"_Promised to what exactly?" _

_George leveled Angelina with a look. _

"_To be engaged."

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SnowAngels

Chapter Fourteen

A New Year

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"To be engaged?" Angelina stared back and forth between George and Luna, her eyes huge. "Engaged...as in married?"

"Yes," Luna fought her growing annoyance, it wouldn't be nice to say many of the things that she was thinking. "As in married."

"Oh my." Angelina shook herself, then, a sparkle came into her eyes and a huge smile spread across her face. "Married! Oh… How wonderful!"

She rushed forward and threw her arms around George, hugging him tightly for a moment before moving on to a very shocked Luna.

"I'm sorry…" She pulled back, her fingers steepled under her chin. "I must seem terribly rude, this is just so sudden. I've only been gone three weeks and I come back to find you engaged…well, engaged to be engaged I guess." She giggled happily , clapped her hands, and then gave George a playful punch on the shoulder. "You always were a sneaky old thing."

"I know." George grinned and put an arm around Luna's waist, giving her a little shake in the hopes of breaking her from her stunned silence. "It's happened a bit fast."

"You have to tell me everything! How did this …"

She cut off at a loud banging from the door; George looked over to find two shadows.

"That will be Ron and Harry wanting in to the shop." He gave Luna and Angelina an apologetic look. He kissed Luna's cheek, and then went to open the door.

"You survived!" Ron burst through the door first. "Mum was flipping out all night worried about you..."

"Angelina!" Harry burst out happily when he saw the extra person in the room. "When did you get back?"

"Just this morning."

"And of course you came looking for George straight off." Ron grinned. "Worried no doubt."

"And it appears I worried my holidays away for nothing." Angelina winked at Luna and smiled widely. "Seems George was well taken care of."

Luna mustered up a smile in response, despite her confusion. Obviously, there had been something between George and Angelina…but what? That was the question. She seemed to be happy about the fact that they were together, but Luna was well aware that what a person said, and what they thought could quite often be different things.

"We need to pop home and change clothes." George was saying "Then we'll be heading to Hogsmeade."

"Just make sure you connect with mum first." Ron warned. "She was in a panic all night."

"Right." George bent and kissed Luna's cheek again. "I need to go and open things up downstairs, I'll be right back." He straightened and winked at Angelina. "Play nice you two."

"Really George." Angelina rolled her eyes. "When don't I play nice?"

"On a broom." Harry said with a smirk as he followed George to the door.

Ron guffawed loudly "With a quaffle in your hands."

"Give you a bit of authority…" George pulled the door open and began down the stairs. "And you turn evil."

"Idiots." Angelina rolled her eyes and turned back to Luna again. Luna tried to work up a smile, but she was still feeling prickly. This was a situation like pretty much everything else she had faced since she and George met in Diagon Alley…vastly...shockingly...unfamiliar.

"Are you okay Luna?" Angelina reached out to touch her arm. "I'm afraid I've shaken you a bit."

"Me?" Luna attempted a laugh, but it was hallow and sounded almost freakish. "What makes you think that?"

"You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"Nothing as dramatic as that." Luna shook herself and began towards the kitchen. If she and George were going to be leaving soon, she needed to get the breakfast mess cleared away.

"Luna, I know we barely knew one another at Hogwarts, but we never had any conflict that I remember…so, this is obviously about George."

Luna scraped her uneaten breakfast into the trash, and then looked up at Angelina, giving a reluctant nod. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"You have nothing to worry about." Angelina put her hand on Luna's shoulder. "George and I are just friends…granted, very close friends…but just friends."

"I heard you…through the door." Luna looked at Angelina accusingly. "I thought I heard you kiss him."

"You've never kissed a friend?" Angelina lifted an eyebrow.

"I've never really had friends, at least not the kind I would kiss. I think Neville would fall over dead if I kissed him, Ginny would certainly hurt me if I tried to kiss Harry and Hermione..." Luna sighed and sank into a chair, a feeling of intense frustration falling over her. "…ugh…this is all so frustrating!"

"I'm sorry." Angelina sat across from her, resting her hand on top of Luna's "I imagine my reaction didn't help matters. I was just so surprised. First, I see lights on up here when George hasn't been up here in months and months, and then I come up here expecting George to be alone and find him _not_ alone. You just really took me by surprise."

"You just expected to spend New Years together, like it was a done deal." Luna looked confused. "You said you came here just for that."

"I did." Angelina nodded, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "George hasn't told you much about last summer, has he?"

"No, not really. Only that it was horrible." Luna felt like she was left out of some secret, some terrible secret about George that she really should know. If he really loved her...shouldn't he have told her?

"It was...for all of us, for you too I imagine."

"Yes." Luna's mind went to her father, still missing…though Luna knew in her heart where he was. "It was."

"There were all those funerals, and public memorials." Angelina shuddered as the memories of the terrible summer came over her. "It would have been unbearable going through that alone, but…luckily, I didn't have to. George, Lee, Katie and Alicia and I had always been inseparable…it was even more so during that first days after the battle. We took our strength from each other, but even with all of us…nothing could help George when it came time to bury Fred."

A tear slipped down Angelina's cheek and she wiped it away, her eyes had taken on a look so painful that Luna's heart ached along with her.

"He collapsed at the burial…Charlie and Bill had to pick him up and apparate him back to the Burrow. He locked himself away after that, all we could do was watch on, helpless as he suffered. Then, one day he just came out of hiding and we were so relieved.

"Fall came…Lee, Katie and Alicia had to leave to go back to University and George and I started spending a lot of time together, I decided to take the year off...I don't know, I just didn't feel up to it, and I just couldn't bring myself to leave George. We were together so much I think his parents were half expecting an announcement….I know mine were." She looked up at Luna, quick to assure.

"Worry not; I was quick to dispel them of that notion." She laughed and patted Luna's hand, and then a sad smile ghosted across her lips. "You see Luna...I loved Fred. The idea of my being with George…when he is so much like him, but isn't…it's just, so wrong." Angelina sniffed loudly and wiped at her face with her sleeve.

"Oh Angelina." Luna turned her hand and grasped Angelina's tightly. "I didn't know…I'm so sorry."

Angelina looked up and smiled. "George helped me through it…and I helped him…as much as I could anyway, but he was always so sad. Just when things started seeming better...the holidays came. George was...he started slipping back the closer it got to December. I was quite worried, my family was going away to visit my grandparents for three weeks and…the first Christmas after the war…there was no way I could get out of it."

A wide, jubilant smile came to Angelina's face, and her eyes locked on Luna's over the table as she grasped her hands.

"I am so happy now that I had to go away. If hadn't, he might not have met up with you again. The difference in him Luna, just the little bit I've seen,…it's like comparing a terrible storm to a sunny day. He looks so happy, and that makes me happy."

Luna felt her heart pound hard in her chest; she was lost somewhere between the sadness of knowing what George had suffered, and the joy of knowing that what Angelina had said was true. George _was _very different now from how he had been the night they met in Diagon Alley.

_"How. How do you get by? This pain...I feel...sometimes I feel like it is going to smother me. I can't breathe; I can't move...I can't even think."_

Luna still vividly remembered his face as he spoke the words. He had been a man tortured, as if he was enduring something worse than the cruciatus curse. She had felt his pain…she understood it, because she was suffering too.

How could it be that that night had only been just two weeks ago? How could such unbearable pain turn to such joy? She smiled a little, remembering how they had made angels in the snow, and then decided they were her father and Fred…sent down to watch over them. But perhaps, in the light of all that had happened since…perhaps the idea wasn't so far off after all.

It was Christmas time and her father had always told her that Christmas was a time for miracles. If God could send a Savior to earth to save his people…couldn't He also send her father and Fred to bring her and George together?

"I'm happy too." Luna smiled up at Angelina. "I'm happy that you were here to help George after Fred died, and that he was able to help you too….and I hope that we can be friends."

"I would really, really like that Luna." Angelina squeezed Luna's hands tightly.

"But, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not kiss you." Luna picked up a pile of dirty dishes and turned away from the table. "I don't think George would like my kissing other people, he got a bit angry when I talked to waiter once."

Angelina giggled behind Luna's back. Luna, it seemed, was as eccentric as ever. At least George didn't have to worry about having a boring life.

* * *

-)0(-

* * *

Luna turned and fussed with the large bow on her back. She generally hated wearing things so frilly and usually went out of her way to avoid them, but Hermione, Ginny and Angelina had insisted that the dress was perfect for her. It was the same shade of blue that was George's favorite on her. It had very short frilly sleeves that were little more than a puff of chiffon that sat on the edge of her shoulder. The squared bodice dropped low in front, low enough to show off a fair bit of cleavage, a matching sash wrapped just below her breasts, from which it dropped to the floor in tiers of chiffon and lace. Luna had never owned a dress so costly, at least five times what she would normally pay for an article of clothing, and that was just the dress.

They hadn't stopped there.

Had it been up to Luna, she would have worn just her usual radish earrings and let her hair hang free…her shopping companions were having none of that. By the time they were done, Luna had spent another small chunk of her inheritance on a crystal choker, bracelet and matching earrings that hung so low they brushed her shoulders. Her hair was pulled back in into a messy knot, and then adorned with deep blue flowers. Then they had decided…since her dress had the look of a nineteen forties movie star…to compliment the look with overdramatic make-up to match the time period.

She looked stunning…even if somewhat uncomfortable.

"Stop fussing." Ginny tugged her hands away. "You look incredible, George is going to flip."

"I don't know, this isn't my usual style."

"Only because you normally dress yourself from second hand stores." Hermione turned Luna around and straightened the bow at her back. "You're just uncomfortable with spending money on yourself because you never do it."

"A girl has to spoil herself sometimes Luna." Angelina agreed. "You look amazing."

Luna looked in the mirror, trying to be objective. The dress did suit her coloring, and it made her eyes deepen from their usual silver to a deep sapphire, the ton of mascara and smoky grey eye shadow that Angelina had piled on around them didn't hurt either. The cut of the dress accentuated her slim, almost too skinny figure and smallish breasts…and it was quite pretty. She even liked the deep crimson lipstick …it made her lips the same color they turned when George kissed her until she thought she was going to turn into a steaming pile Jell-O.

"I suppose I do look…nice." She allowed, a small grin playing about her deep crimson lips. "I hope George thinks so."

Hermione giggled, "You could wear a flour sack and George would be impressed."

"He'd be even more impressed if you weren't wearing a flour sack." Ginny winked, causing Luna to blush deeply. "In fact, he'd be pretty impressed if you were wearing nothing at…"

"Ginny!" Luna warned, casting Ginny a dangerous glare, causing the other three to burst out into giggles. "How would you like it if I said that about you?"

"You're kidding right?" she laughed. "I _know _Harry wants to see me naked."

"All men want to see women naked." Hermione added. "They're pigs."

"And you never think about seeing Ron naked?" Angelina turned away from the mirror where she was fussing with her hair. Hermione had the sense to stay silent, yet her cheeks turned bright red. "Thought so."

"Why are you in here talking about naked people?" Harry stood in the doorway, his eyes glued on Ginny in her white strapless dress. "You look really nice."

"Thank you." Ginny smiled and cross to the door.

"She started it." Luna nodded at Ginny, then turned and looked for George, still nowhere to be found. Ron stood just behind him, speechlessly goggling at Hermione in her daringly low cut emerald green single strapped gown.

"Wow." He muttered at last when Hermione stood and crossed the room to kiss his cheek. This was a long way from the innocent frock she had worn years ago to the Yule ball and Ron reflected that it was a damn good thing Viktor Krum wasn't the one escorting her this time…it wouldn't have been the miniature Viktor would have been missing an arm by morning.

Hermione grinned approvingly at the clubbed over the head expression on Ron's face, and she approved of Ron's new formal black dress robes. A part of her had worried that he had been planning to dig his old ones out of hiding. Little did she know that Ron had burned them shortly after the Yule ball.

"George is on his way down." Harry nodded up the stairs, taking Ginny's hand. "He's running a bit behind."

"My fault, I made him wait while I finished hanging those drapes." Luna sank down on the side of the bed. They had spent the last five days working on the cottage in Hogsmeade. Luna had been unwilling to leave until everything was perfectly in place as it was the last day she would be able to help him.

Luna sighed as she watched Harry and Ron escort Ginny and Hermione downstairs. Angelina stood in her turquoise gown, then put her hand on Luna's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before turning for the stairs herself.

She had been struggling all week to not count, something that become next to impossible over the last couple of days. Only one full day remained…the day after New Years, it was back to Hogwarts. How was it possible that in just over two weeks her life could change so drastically? When the holidays had first begun, she had dreaded them…the long stretched out days, and the even longer nights…time she had thought would be spent all alone.

Then George came…and he changed _everything_. Now, instead of dreading a couple of weeks, she was dreading nearly six months. Yes, he would be in Hogsmeade, and she would be able to see him then…but once a month just wasn't often enough. It wasn't nearly enough.

"Please don't be sad." Luna's head jerked up to find George standing in the doorway, a look of intense concern on his face. "You look too beautiful to be so sad."

"What makes you think I'm sad?" Luna tried to force a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"You've been sad all week." George shouldered off the door frame and stepped to take her hand. "You can't fool me you know."

"You've been sad too." Luna countered

"Never said I wasn't." George shrugged and pulled her close. "I think we should put all this out of our minds for tonight and try to concentrate on the truly horrible thing."

Luna linked their hands and looked up at him, an adoring smile on her face…this one a smile that reached her eyes. "And what is that?"

"That we've been forced into formal clothing, attending this ridiculous thing when we would both rather be here in comfortable clothes snogging in the New Year." He looked down and grinned, "Though, I have to say… you look stunning, that alone makes it worth it."

"You look rather stunning yourself." Luna sighed, "I'm going to have to hex all the girls off you."

George threw his head back and laughed, then took her hand and tucked it in the crook of his arm. "I don't think so. They will take one look at you …"

He leaned down and brushed her lips with his.

"…and they will realize that George Weasley is unavailable for the duration of forever.

* * *

-)0(-

* * *

George sat quietly watching while Luna was swept away to dance, first with his father, then with each of his brothers. Then of course, Harry had to have a turn, and before long, Neville Longbottom had arrived with Dean Thomas not far behind. The night seemed to be going on forever, and he had yet to have a complete dance alone with her. Either someone cut in on her, or someone cut in on him. For someone who didn't think she had any friends, Luna certainly had a lot of them…and they were almost all male.

It was just after eleven-thirty, while he sat watching Luna dance with Lee and Angelina was off dancing with Oliver Wood, that his mother began to look at him peculiarly.

"What?" He asked, his face resting in his palm.

"Are you feeling okay George?" She looked at him closely, and then slid over to sit next to him. "You're looking a bit peaky."

"I am?" He picked up a spoon and pretending to study his reflection. "Oh look, my face is all round mum!"

"Don't you get all cheeky with me George." She reached out and put a hand on his forehead. "Why…you're burning up!"

"I'm fine." He pulled away, turning his attention back to Luna.

"You are not fine." She pulled on Arthur's hand. "Arthur, feel his forehead."

George looked horrified and pulled away. "I don't need anyone feeling my forehead!"

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, she and Hermione returning from a trip to the bathroom.

"George is sick." Arthur looked at George "And he's not listening to your mother."

"I am not sick." He protested, trying to pull away from Ginny and Hermione who had both reached for his head. Ginny grabbed his shoulder to hold him in place, then she and Hermione both took turns.

"George, you're awfully warm."

"It's just hot in here, that's all."

"Well," Ginny huffed and turned towards the dance floor. "We'll see what Luna has to say about this."

She returned a moment later, Luna, Lee and Angelina in tow.

"You're sick?" Luna slid into the chair next to him. "Oh, I do hope it wasn't that steak and kidney pie. I read just before Christmas that the ministry was using Gnome's for meat to save money after the war."

"Gnomes?" Lee looked at her as if he couldn't decide whether to laugh or check to see if he was hearing things.

"Yes, but…there is so much greenery around too, it could be Nargles, or even Wrackspurts." Luna looked at George, an incredibly worried expression on her face.

"Luna, I'm not sick." George took her hand. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Luna reached for his forehead. She pulled her hand back with a little gasp. "Okay, that's it. We're leaving."

She stood and began to dig in her bag for the tickets for their cloaks. "Would you mind?" She handed them to Lee and he and Angelina rushed off to get them.

"Luna, I'm fine." George fixed her with a look.

"Just be quiet George."

George sat back in his chair and rested his head back in his palm. His head feeling a bit woozy.

"I can take him dear." Mrs. Weasley protested. "You shouldn't ruin your evening."

"It's okay." Luna shook her head and smiled. "You stay and enjoy yourself. I wouldn't have much fun worrying anyway."

"Well, if you're sure." Mrs. Weasley leaned forward and kissed her cheek, then George's forehead. "Take good care of my boy."

Angelina and Lee arrived with their cloaks and Angelina threw George's over his shoulders, while Lee helped Luna into hers.

"I will, don't worry." Luna kissed her cheek. "Please…enjoy yourselves."

George had lain his head down on the table, and now Lee and Angelina pulled him to his feet while Luna dug his wand out of her bag.

"George." Luna said nervously. "You'll have to apparate us, I can't."

George nodded, and then took his wand, put his arm around Luna's shoulder and they were gone.

-)0(-

They landed on spot in the bedroom George was sharing with Charlie. Charlie had gone back to Romania just after Christmas and so he had been enjoying the privacy once again…Charlie's snoring could wake the dead.

Luna pulled his cloak off, then the heavy robe of his dress robes. She turned, dug a pair of pajamas out of the dresser and set them on the bed next to him.

"Can you manage with out me?" She asked, pulling him upright again when he began to slump over.

"I think so." He whispered, his voice weak. "Are you leaving?"

"I'm just going to get out of this dress…I'd hate for it to be ruined if you…well, you know." She sighed. "Gnome stains you see."

George tried to laugh, but it didn't come out. "Go on, I'll be okay. Hurry though."

Luna nodded, and then ran out the door. She was back in ten minutes wearing a pair of fluffy pink pajama's, her face freshly scrubbed, hair down and swirling around her. As beautiful as she had looked all dressed up…this was the way George liked her best.

She found him lying on his bed; he had put his pajamas on and now sagged over on his side. He looked terribly uncomfortable.

"Oh George." Luna set down the bottle of flu potion and glass of water that she had brought on the table. "You look so uncomfortable."

She leaned over, pulling the blankets aside, then pushed him on his back and pulled the blankets up.

"Is that better?"

"Some." He whispered. "But I would be better like this…"

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulled her into the bed, then pulled her over him, flipped her onto her back and kissed her. When he pulled back, he propped himself up on his elbow and grinned down at her.

"You…" Luna spluttered up at him. "I thought you were sick?"

"No." He shook his head, his smile widening. "I was bored and tired of sharing you."

"But…you had a fever." She reached up and put her hand on his forehead…it was as cool as a cucumber.

"Luna," George eyes twinkled madly. "Have you forgotten what I do for a living?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue and green wrapper. On the side were the words…

'_Fever Fudge…a Weasley Product'_

"A skiving snackbox?" Luna pulled the wrapper out of his hand. "You used a _skiving snackbox _on me?" she turned to him, her eyes narrow and potentially dangerous.

"Not on you exactly…" he backpedaled. "The family, they never would have let us…"

"You!" Luna rolled over, pushing him on his back and sitting on his stomach. She pulled the pillow from beneath his head…

"You scared the shit out of me!"

…then started beating him with it.

"I'm sorry!" George yelled, his arms over his face protectively while he laughed. "I'm sorry…I swear."

"Say you'll never do it again!"

"I'll never do it again!" Luna stopped pelting him, trying to decide if he was serious…then she decided he was. "Forgive me…please?" He stared up at her, his eyes so wide and puppyish that she couldn't help but give in…her heart was melted goo in his hands.

"Alright. You're forgiven then." She started to move, then gave him one more smack with the pillow…just for good measure.

"What was that for?" George asked

"So you don't forget." Luna began to slide off the bed, but George grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"I shouldn't be in here if you don't really need me."

"I always need you."

"I need you too." Luna smiled and sat on the side of the bed. "But that's not what I mean."

George looked at her for a moment, and then he smiled and pulled her back into the bed with him. "I promise to behave like a perfect gentleman."

Luna put her arms around him and lay her head on his shoulder. "That would be a first."

"Well...I'm wounded now."

"I know." Luna pushed up on an elbow and grinned at him cockily. "The truth must hurt terribly."

George looked up into her huge silver eyes, wondering if he had ever truly appreciated how beautiful she was. It was true, she wasn't as beautiful by others standards. She was by no means ugly; perhaps a little plain…he was well aware that people had been shocked to see them together that night. On the surface, the idea of George Weasley with Luna Lovegood seemed strange to say the least…impossible even.

He knew too that there had been a time in his life, back before the war, when he never would have considered her. He'd been a boy then, wrapped up in the typical teenage boys childish idea's of physical beauty. He hadn't considered then that there were things that were more important than the surface; hadn't known that what made a person beautiful was what existed inside.

Until he lost the most precious thing in his life.

Losing Fred…almost losing himself because of it,…it had forced him to grow up. In growing up he had learned to search beyond the outward…he sought what existed inside. Luna Lovegood was beautiful in spirit; in heart and soul… while she may not be as physically beautiful as the girls he had once pursued…she was the most beautiful woman he had ever known.

The most beautiful woman he would ever know.

George sighed deeply, reaching up to cup her cheek in his hand.

"I love you." He pulled her face to his, and then brushed his lips over her cheek. "I honestly and truly love you."

Luna sighed loudly. Would she ever tire of hearing the words? Would there ever be a day when they would cease to send her heart fluttering madly in her chest? She desperately hoped not.

She had seen the other girls when she and George arrived that night, their eyes wide with surprise, their mouths hanging open widely…all wondering what _George Weasley _was doing with _Loony Lovegood_. When she returned to school, there would be questions to answer no doubt. Most would assume it had been a mercy date, arranged by Ginny haranguing her brother. It was well known that Ginny could be quite persistent when she wanted something…and quite annoying to boot.

The thing that surprised Luna the most though, was that she couldn't seem to bring herself to _care_.

True, she had never cared about others opinions before, but since the end of the war, she had been a bit more sensitive.

She had lost her obliviousness…

Oh, she couldn't have cared less what they thought of her beliefs, or that they tried and tried to talk her out of them, it was the other things that bothered her, her missing shoes and homework; the finger pointing and gossip about her being held at Malfoy manor. Luna reckoned it had a lot to do with her father's death, not to mention her being held prisoner all those months.

However, despite her sudden sensitivity to the opinions of others…she couldn't care less what people thought about the idea of her being with George. It was a bit like how she had always seen things with her rare creatures. Let them be foolish in their denial…muggles didn't believe in magic either…that didn't mean it didn't exist. Let them believe, or let them not believe…she knew the truth.

Besides, they would figure it all out when she started spending time at a certain shop in Hogsmeade.

The truth was, she was unable to be concerned, because she knew George was sincere. He wasn't like the boys who had invited her to Hogsmeade and then watched her through the windows, laughing with his friends while she waited in the Three Broomsticks for a boy who would never come…who never had any intention of coming.

It wasn't just her obliviousness that Luna had lost…she'd lost her naiveté as well.

But George,…George wasn't like that. George was a dream come true…a dream that she would never have dared to dream, not even in her dreamiest daydreams.

Luna shifted slightly so she could look deep into his eyes. He was her prince, her knight in shining armor…her hero. He would never hurt her as those boys had, he would keep his promises.

"I love you too." She whispered softly as the coo-coo clock downstairs announced midnight. "Always and forever."

"It's midnight." George smiled and brushed a finger over her lips. "You know what that means, right?"

Luna nodded "The Nargle eggs are hatching."

"Nargle eggs?"

"Yes, they lay their eggs in the evergreen during Christmas, and then when they feel the new year come, they hatch."

"Well…good for the Nargles." George smirked and looked adoringly into her eyes, this beautiful woman of his…the woman he intended to cherish for the rest of his life. "But I was thinking of something else."

"Good for the Nargles?" Luna looked at him with a shocked expression. "George! Nargles are bad, I thought you knew that by now! Nargles..."

"Luna..." He put a finger over her lips. "Shhhh."

He pulled her face to his, and then he kissed her.

They pulled apart a long time later, the moment incredibly sweet. Luna blinked and her cheeks were dotted with a smattering of tears. All too soon she would be leaving him…the moments were all too precious…she wasn't going to waste a single one.

"Happy New Year George."

George lifted his head and moved his lips over her cheeks, kissing the tears away. When not a single one remained, he pulled back slightly. His lips hovered over hers as he whispered the words.

"Happy New Years Luna."

-)0(-

Molly stared down at the two sleeping in the dark room. Her mother's instincts told her to go and rouse them from sleep and send Luna down to the bedroom below. They might be promised, but it still wasn't proper for a young man and a young woman to share a bed without being married. However, Molly Weasley was a woman first…and the woman…the woman remembered what it was like to be young…to be in love.

She smiled, then turned away and closed the door.

* * *

-)0(-

* * *

Snow was falling in huge fluffy flakes when George and Luna landed in Diagon Alley. The streets were deserted, not a single soul was about. It was their last night together and somehow, Luna had known he would bring her here.

Her eyes misted, knowing why he had brought her….he wanted to remember the night they had met …the night he followed her.

"I landed right here." He spoke softly, and then raised his arm, pointing at the streetlight above the apothecary. "And you were there, under that light."

"I'd already been walking awhile before you came." Luna sighed and leaned against him. "I couldn't stand it anymore…the quiet, the lonely flat. It was crushing me…I had to get out."

He put his arm around her and began to walk towards the street light. "It's the same thing I felt, even though I was surrounded by family. So I came here…and I found you." He smiled down at her, and then brushed a kiss over her lips. "My SnowAngel."

Luna smiled up at him for a moment, her hand on his cheek. Then, she laid her head on his chest and they began to walk, tracing the path they had followed that night not so long ago.

"What made you follow me?" She asked, her hand tightening in his.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I didn't know then, and I still…I still don't understand. I just felt like, like there was something about you, something telling me that meeting you and being able to go on were synonymous. Like I couldn't do one without the other.

"There's a part of me that wonders; what would this Christmas have been like without you? I'd like to think I would have been strong…but there's another part that thinks I would have ended up locking myself away again, like I did last summer." He smiled at her sadly, "I've thought about that a lot this week…"

"I have too." Luna tightened her grip on his hand. "It's only logical I suppose…to be curious. I have a pretty good idea what my Christmas would have been like if we had never met that night. It would have been cold, and lonely…and just imagining a little of it is enough to make me not want to imagine it anymore."

The lights of Diagon Alley were dim behind them now as they came to the edge of the play park. The snowdrifts were much higher now than they had been that night. Then, they had only reached his ankles, now; they would have buried him to his hips. The two poinsettias from Luna's pin would be buried so far down that it would be spring before he could retrieve them…but he would retrieve them. He wasn't exactly sure why it was so important that he have them, only that it was.

"They're buried deep now, aren't they?" Luna let go of his arm and turned to face him. "The two pieces of my poinsettia pin."

George smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. It was so like them…they always knew what the other was thinking.

"Our snow angels are down there too." He reached out and brushed a bit of hair back behind her ear. "Your father, and Fred."

"Yes." She smiled and rolled her eyes upward. "And they're there too. Watching over us."

"Do you remember when you asked me if I believed in Angels?"

Luna nodded.

"I didn't then, not really…at least, not the way I do now."

"What _do_ you believe now?"

"Many things." He smiled down at her, his eyes so alive with happiness it made her breath catch…particularly when she could still remember the sadness she had seen in his eyes the first time they had stood in this place.

"I believe the way to a girl's heart is through ice skates with golden blades, that the best part of hunting for a Christmas tree is not hunting for a Christmas tree, and that skulking in a girl's bedroom at four-thirty in the morning is the most dangerous thing a man can ever do." George looked at her and grinned. "I believe in mistletoe, and Nargles, and silly little Christmas trees that aren't really Christmas trees. "

Luna laughed and he reached out to brush the back of his fingers over her cheek.

" And…I believe Fred was an angel that night…and I believe he lead me to you."

"Oh George. I know it…I know my father lead me to you too." Luna wiped the tears from her cheeks and leaned against him. "I love you."

"I love you Luna Lovegood." He buried his face in her neck, pulling her tight against him. "When you come home in June, I am going to put a diamond on your finger, and then next Christmas…I'm going to marry you."

"I'd like that." Luna nodded and lifted her face to his. "I'd like that very much."

George pulled her face to his, the kiss sweet, yet filled with the sadness of the separation to come. Both knew they had a difficult road ahead…separation is never easy…but they trusted that they would make it through.

How could they not; they had angels on their side.

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Epilogue

Christmas -Three Years Later

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Snowflakes the size of ping-pong balls fell around them as Luna giggled happily, clinging tightly to George's hand while they walked the dark streets of Diagon Alley. She turned her face up to him, a beatific smile gracing her features while snow caught in her hair, on her eyelashes and the white fur trim of her cloak.

"You look so beautiful like that." He smiled, reaching over to brush a finger over her cheek. "With the snow all in your hair…you look like my SnowAngel."

"I think you're just feeling overly nostalgic." Luna grinned. "I'm so fat I look more like a cherub."

"For the tenth time this quarter-hour, you're not fat." George rolled his eyes. "You're pregnant."

"I feel fat."

"Luna, you're two days over due." He pulled her closer as they came to a patch of ice. "Stop being so hard on yourself."

"Yes dear." Luna sighed deeply. "But I don't understand why I am over due. Angie didn't go over due with Leandra."

"You're not Angie, though I am starting to think you two are twins separated at birth."

"Angie brings out the best in me." Luna stopped and stared up at her old flat above the apothecary. She loved that old place…even though all told she had lived there all of four days…the place held a precious memory. She and George had had their first kiss there. The summer after she completed Hogwarts she had stayed at the Burrow and hadn't left until she and George were married that Christmas. Since then, they had lived in Hogsmeade in his little cottage.

"She taught you to shop." George put his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "That's hardly bringing out the best in you." He nuzzled her ear with his nose. "I know what the best in you is, the thing you love to do the most."

"Not for another few weeks you don't" Luna giggled and turned to walk again. "And not while I look like the butt cheek of a Nufflump."

"You do not look like the butt cheek of a Nufflump." George shook his head. Not that he knew what a Nufflump was…he tried to stay out of his wife's way when she was working on new stories for her magazine _'The Rare Dish' _

"They are much larger." From what his wife had told him at least.

"Not much." Luna stopped and smiled, her eyes becoming misty as they always did when she and her husband stood in this spot. Three years before, on this very night, they had met here. He had been escaping his family and ended up following an angel, she had been escaping her loneliness and ended up walking the deserted streets. Though they hadn't realized it at the time, both had been searching, longing for something to hold onto, something that made sense in the world after the war.

They had found one another.

George took a deep breath and looked deeply into his wife's eyes. They had been through so much together, both before and after their meeting here three years before. The six month separation while Luna finished school had been difficult...though not as difficult as it would have been if George hadn't realized that it was just as easy to sneak _into_ Hogwarts, as it had been for him and Fred to sneak _out_ of it.

The aftermath of the war hadn't ended with the new year. There were birthdays to endure, milestones and anniversaries. Luna's father's body had never been found, yet she remained at peace …she had told him the first night they met that she knew where he was. Xenophilius Lovegood was in heaven with Luna's mother, Cera. Fred, George knew, was there too. Someday, he would see him again and as much as he loved his life, there was a part of him that couldn't help longing for that day.

"Are you sure you should do this?" George looked at Luna worriedly

"I'll be fine," Luna assured him. "As long as you don't put your back out trying to help me up afterwards."

George resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her again. "Let's go."

Very carefully, he helped her to her knees, and then she rolled over onto her back and moved her arms and legs up and down. George fell onto the ground next to her, copying her motions. He reached over, grasping her hand in his, and then he smiled, the memories of their first snow angels coming to life again in his mind as it did every year.

"I love you, Luna Weasley."

Luna felt the familiar thrill rush through her at the words, it hadn't faded the slightest since the first time she had heard them the night of the storm…after three years together, she was starting to believe it never would.

"I love you, George Weasley."

He sat up, pulling her up with him so they sat on their knees. George reached into his pocket and pulled out the two pieces of Luna's old poinsettia pin. A tear slipped down Luna's cheek as she laid it in the snow.

"Merry Christmas Daddy."

George held tight to her hand, and then lay his own.

"Merry Christmas Fred."

They kissed their fingers, and then pressed them to the faces of their SnowAngels.

George stood and pulled his wife to her feet, then put his arm around her to lead her away. He would come back in the spring for the poinsettia pins…he did every year.

"George," Luna sighed and put her head on his arm.

"Yeah?"

"Merry Christmas."

George leaned down and kissed her forehead then brushed his lips over hers. After all these years,…she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever known…she always would be.

"Merry Christmas Luna."

"George?"

"Yeah?"

"My water broke."

"It …when?"

"About an hour ago."

"Luna!" George gave her an exasperated look. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We needed to make our snow angels. It would be bad luck to break tradition."

He looked at her for another moment, shaking his head. It was so like her…Luna loved their yearly tradition of making snow angels by the park…she wouldn't give it up for anything.

"Ugh.. Luna you are so…"

"George, do you want to argue, or do you want to get me to St. Mungo's?"

He knew from experience…arguing with his wife never made a bit of difference…besides, it was already done. He'd lost this argument before it had even started.

"St. Mungo's" George reached into his pocket for his wand. It was time…finally; it was time for their little girl to be born.

"She's coming?" He grinned as he put his arm around Luna.

Luna nodded, a huge smile on her face.

"Angel's finally coming."

George kissed her, then swept her up in his arms and apparated them away.

Despite all his worry over Luna's being over due…

Perhaps it was going to be a Merry Christmas after all.

A very, very Merry Christmas.

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Notes: Sigh...and so ends another! I'm always sad to see a story end...but...as this was a seasonal story it was drawn out much longer than I had planned. I had meant for it to finish by New Years, but unforeseen complications arose. I hope that you have enjoyed the story and I hope the ending was satisfying. I probably should have split it into two chapters, but I wanted to put this one to rest. I have a new story I want to do and I still need to finish up _The Year After, which_ is no where near finished, not even half I don't think. I also am hoping to get back to Beautiful Consequences II sometime soon.

So, a belated Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for following this story!

CJ

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